THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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Copyright,  1888,  by  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 


PS 

//oo 
LIPPINCOTT'S 


MAGAZINE 


JULY,   1888. 


THE  YELLOW  SNAKE. 


CHAPTER  I. 
A  YOUNG  AMERICAN  GIRL. 

IN  a  small  valley,  on  the  southward  slope  of  the  great  table-land 
.  of  Mexico,  lay  an  hacienda,  fair  as  an  earthly  paradise.  "Well  was 
this  hacienda — the  property  of  General  Mariano  del  Prado — called  Las 
Delicias,  the  Delightful,  or  the  Place  of  Delights. 

"  Well  is  it  called  Las  Delicias,"  said  Amy  Colebrook,  writing  back 
to  her  family  an  account  of  her  journey  in  a  distant  land. 

And  "  Well  is  it  called  Las  Delicias,"  thought  young  Walter  Ar 
royo,  of  the  neighboring  town,  particularly  when  the  beautiful  young 
American  girl  from  New  York  had  come  there  to  make  a  visit. 

"  The  mansion  itself,"  continued  Miss  Amy  Colebrook,  "  has  the 
most  peculiar  of  situations.  What  will  you  say  when  I  tell  you  it 
stands  in  the  open  side  of  a  volcano  ?  There,  there,  don't  tremble  for 
me ;  wait  till  you  hear  me  explain.  It  is  an  extinct  volcano,  and  the 
past  terror  but  gives  greater  zest  to  the  present  security. 

"  We  came  down  to  it  first  from  a  great  height,"  she  wrote.  "  The 
dillgentia  that  brought  us  from  the  city  of  Mexico  had  bumped  and 
shaken  us  terribly,  but  I  forgot  it  all  at  the  view  of  that  valley.  We 
seemed  to  hang  in  mid-air,  on  the  rough  pass,  and  the  colors  of  the 
glorious  prospect  below  us  were  pale  like  those  of  a  dream. 

" '  Cuernavaca !'  cried  Luz,  making  out  some  domes  near  a  tract  of 
sugar-cane  of  a  more  vivid  green  than  the  rest. 

"  Her  eyes  filled  with  tears  at  the  sight  of  her  home,  then  she  fairly 
broke  down  and  sobbed  on  her  father's  shoulder.  Never  had  I  felt  more 
warmly  towards  the  child.  You  know  we  thought  her  rather  slow 
and  dull  at  school.  The  other  girls  at  Mrs.  Rush's  ridiculed  her  for 
stupidity,  but  I  felt,  even  then,  that  much  of  it  was  the  shyness  due  to 
separation  from  her  own  country  and  also  lack  of  facility  in  our  language. 

3 


1211698 


4  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

And,  indeed,  on  this  long  journey  of  ours  from  New  York  she  has  de 
veloped  many  sweet  and  attractive  qualities.  I  am  sure  Luz — unlike 
as  is  her  name  to  her  dark  skin  and  over-developed  figure — has  the 
makings  of  a  charming  woman  about  her  yet.  Lucky  for  me,  was  it 
not,  I  took  this  enlightened  view  of  her,  or  I  should  never  have  been 
here.  And  now  I  am  only  too  delighted  to  find  I  was  right.  Her 
gratitude  for  what  little  consideration  I  showed  her  is  really  quite 
moving, — and  so  is  her  father's  too.  The  General  is  just  the  nicest 
old  gentleman  in  the  world,  somewhat  stolid  and  formal, — his  daughter 
takes  after  him  in  disposition  as  well  as  in  his  dark,  heavy  type, — but 
occupied  only  in  thinking  what  kind-hearted  thing  he  can  do  for  us 
next. 

"  You  know  of  old  my  habit  of  digressing :  so  don't  expect  a 
straight  story  from  me  at  this  late  day.  I  meant  to  tell  you  about  the 
house  first,  and  then  about  the  people.  At  a  little  hamlet,  of  a  few 
cane  and  adobe  huts,  with  a  ruined  church,  like  an  ancient  abbey,  in 
the  midst  of  them,  we  were  met  by  a  lively  cavalcade,  consisting  of 
Don  Angel,  the  son  of  the  house,  and  the  dependants  of  the  hacienda, 
come  out  to  welcome  us.  Don  Angel  is  a  mere  boy,  of  perhaps  eigh 
teen.  They  had  dismounted,  and  were  resting  under  a  pleasant  shade, 
where  some  Indian  women  had  oranges  and  lemons  from  their  own 
trees  for  sale,  but  the  moment  of  our  arrival  they  leaped  into  the  saddle 
again  and  began  to  dash  along  beside  us  in  gallant  style.  They  fired 
pistols  in  the  air  and  made  demonstrations  of  joy  that  were  almost 
terrific.  Their  accoutrements — well,  I  am  sending  you  herewith  an 
aspiring  attempt  in  water-colors,  together  with  some  photographs,  to 
show  the  costumes  of  the  country.  The  heavy  spurs,  the  bauds  around 
their  hate,  and  the  rows  of  coins  down  the  legs  of  their  trousers  are  all 
silver. 

"  I  can't  get  over  even  the  old  men's  wearing  short  jackets  :  you 
should  see  the  rotund  General  in  his ! 

"  One  of  the  party,  whose  name  I  learned  was  Don  Walter  Arroyo, 
looked  particularly  spirited  on  horseback.  He  was  only  an  acquaint 
ance,  it  appeared,  who  happened  to  be  there  at  the  time,  and  came  along 
with  the  rest.  But  my  attention  was  drawn  away  from  their  eccen 
tricities  by  our  coming  to  the  Cerro.  We  rode  through  flowering 
hedges  and  shaded  lanes,  and  presently  there  was  the  stately,  long,  low, 
white  mansion  before  us. 

"  The  Cerro  is  a  truncated  cone  of  three  or  four  hundred  feet  in 
height.  One  side  has  been  torn  away,  probably  by  the  force  of  some 
ancient  flow  of  lava,  and  discloses  to  view  what  was  once  the  crater,  and 
is  now  a  natural  bowl  of  exquisite  verdure,  with  soft  and  pleasing  slopes. 
In  the  centre  of  this  open  side,  at  the  top  of  a  gentle  rise  of  ground,  where 
it  receives  the  breeze  only  from  the  most  favoring  quarters,  and  is 
sheltered  against  every  inclemency,  stands  the  imposing  residence,  spa 
cious,  sculptured,  battlemented,  and  loop-holed  against  attack,  and  with 
a  gabled  belfry  in  which  hang  two  tiers  of  old  bronze  bells,  to  summon 
the  family  to  chapel  or  other  domestic  purposes. 

"  The  emerald  bowl  around  it,  perhaps  half  a  mile  in  diameter, 
which  had  once  been  so  terrible,  fertile  now  with  crops  and  gardens, 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  5 

merging  near  the  top  into  the  darker  green  of  rich  forest,  presented  a 
scene  of  peculiar  and  quiet  beauty.  At  one  place  only  was  a  trace  of 
roughness  to  be  seen,  in  some  basaltic  cliffs,  with  hot  springs  at  their 
foot,  from  which  wavered  up  thin  wreaths  of  steam.  Behind  the  Cerro 
rose  tall  and  savage  mountains,  of  which  it  made  a  part.  Up  there 
among  them,  at  a  great  distance  off,  you  could  see  the  white  thread  of  a 
waterfall.  There  was  a  beautiful  light  over  everything,  the  herds  were 
coming  home,  and  the  bells  of  the  hacienda  struck  with  a  musical 
chiming. 

"  I  marvelled  to  find  this  palatial  abode  set  down  in  the  very  jaws 
of  destruction  as  it  were.  A  most  intelligent  young  man, — the  one  who 
happened  to  be  here  by  accident, — who  rode  beside  me,  explained  to  me 
something  of  the  character  of  such  a  site.  He  spoke  English,  though 
with  a  good  deal  of  accent,  and  was  made  interpreter  by  the  others. 

"'There  are  a  great  many  such  hills  scattered  about  here :  you  will 
often  see  them/  he  said.  *  They  are  probably  offshoots  of  old  Popo 
catepetl  [the  great  peak  towering  snowy  white  on  our  horizon],  thrown 
up  by  the  elemental  fires  that  had  begun  to  abate  there.  I  have  not 
been  abroad,  but  I  have  heard  from  travellers  that  there  are  plenty  of 
them  in  French  Auvergne  and  near  Naples.  A  king  of  Naples,  when 
there  was  one,  used  to  keep  his  deer  in  a  crater- ring  something  like  the 
Cerro:  he  had  only  to  shut  in  one  side  with  a  gate,  and  there  was  his 
deer-park  complete.  And  these  old  volcanic  cinder-heaps,  as  we  know, 
make  the  very  choicest  of  soil  for  vineyards  and  gardens/ 

"'Yes,'  I  answered, — sighing,  I  am  afraid, — 'I  have  never  been 
abroad  either,  but  I  have  often  heard  my  father  tell  about  drinking  the 
delicious  Lacryma  Christi  wine,  grown  on  the  slopes  of  Vesuvius/ 

"  Yes,  my  dear  family,  I  had  to  admit  at  once  that  this  was  my  first 
venture  into  that  great  world  of  travel  and  romance  after  which  my 
vagrant  spirit  has  long  had  such  a  hankering.  However,  this  is  an 
opportunity  that  bids  fair  to  make  up  for  all  my  past  deprivations. 
You  will  think  it  shocking  in  me,  but  I  have  hardly  had  time  as  yet 
even  to  be  homesick.  I  am  not  sure  but  I  am  grateful  for  the  ailments 
that  reconciled  you  to  letting  me  come  home  with  the  kind  General  and 
his  daughter,  to  try  the  effect  of  their  milder  climate.  I  am  far  better 
already;  you  would  hardly  know  me. 

"  I  stop  a  dozen  times  a  day  at  the  loveliness  all  around  me  to  cry 
in  involuntary  wonderment,  '  Oh,  beautiful !' 

"What  a  sweet  and  perfumed  air!  What  delicious  gardens,  what 
terraces  and  statues,  in  the  old-fashioned  formal  style  of  the  foreign 
palaces!  What  fish-ponds,  with  carp  in  them!  What  fountains, 
labyrinths,  and  clipped  alleys !  What  thickets  of  laurel  and  cypress, 
with  rose-trees  flaming  in  their  midst,  and  oranges  starring  the  dark 
breadths  like  golden  lamps !  My  dear,  commonplace,  poverty-stricken 
family,  how  am  I  ever  to  go  back  to  you  ?  Have  you  an  hacienda  some 
ten  miles  wide  by  twenty  long,  lying  upon  the  mountain-slopes  in  such 
a  way  that  it  possesses  a  number  of  different  climates  of  its  own,  vary 
ing  from  temperate  to  torrid,  and  grows  the  choicest  productions  of 
each  ?  Have  you  herds  on  a  thousand  hills,  and  employees  like  a  small 
army  ?  Have  you  a  mayor-domo,  and  a  book-keeper,  and  a  half-dozen 


6  THE  YELLOW  SNAKE. 

other  principal  subordinates  before  the  ordinary  servants  even  begin  ? 
Have  you  an  establishment  the  granaries  of  which  alone  are  like  monu 
mental  halls,  and  the  various  buildings  of  which  cover  acres  of 
ground  ? 

"  No,  I  should  say  not.  You  have  only  a  sweet  little  flat  near  the 
Park,  with  almost  the  prettiest  portieres  and  blue  china  in  town,  it  is 
true,  but  still  very  high  up  in  the  air,  and  lacking  bedrooms  enough  for 
the  comfortable  accommodation  of  all  my  numerous  brothers  and  sisters. 
But  I  love  it,  just  as  it  is,  and,  in  spite  of  what  I  have  said,  I  only  wish 
I  were  back  there  with  you,  this  very  minute.  Not  one  of  you  but  de 
serves  the  pleasure  I  am  having  now  much  better  than  myself.  Ah ! 
well,  perhaps,  better  things  are  in  store  for  us  yet.  Ah  !  why  must  there 
have  been  people  so  cruel  and  unscrupulous  ?  Why  could  not  dishonest 
trustees  have  taken  some  other  people's  money  instead  of  ours  ?  Not 
that  I  want  anybody's  to  be  taken,  but  there  are  so  many  that  put  it 
only  to  vulgar  and  ostentatious  uses.  Do  you  know  I  often  think  we 
are  just  the  ones  to  have  money  ? — disinterested  of  me,  isn't  it  ?  We 
like  nice  things,  we  have  refined  tastes,  haven't  we  ? — I  am  sure  we  do 
more  now,  with  our  wretched  little  makeshifts,  to  keep  up  a  figure  in 
the  world,  than  many  with  large  incomes.  Of  course  it  isn't  so  hard  for 
me,  because  I  have  always  been  used  to  it,  the  troubles  happened  before 
my  time ;  but  I  often  think  how  you,  dear  mamma,  must  suffer,  who  once 
had  everything  so  very  different.  Why  are  there  not  benevolent  rich 
people  who  find  out  about  the  cases  of  nice,  deserving  families  whose 
money  was  made  away  with  by  faithless  trustees,  and  in  some  artful 
way  set  them  on  their  feet  again  ?  That  would  be  true  charity.  I  am 
sure,  in  their  case,  I  should  like  nothing  better  than  playing  the  good 
fairy  in  that  way.  Well,  well,  this  is  a  long  way  to  come  to  write  you 
on  matters  we  have  discussed  a  thousand  times  at  home.  You  will 
think  your  daughter — and  sister — could-  hardly  have  gone  farther  and 
fared  worse,  if  she  is  going  to  be  impressed'  in  this  way  by  the  opulence 
of  her  hospitable  Mexican  hosts. 

"  I  asked  '  Don'  Walter  Arroyo — their  Don  means  only  the  same  as 
our  Mr.,  though  it  always  seems  as  if  it  ought  to  mean  a  great  deal 
more — if  we  were  all  likely  to  be  blown  up  some  fine  day,  living  reck 
lessly  in  the  crater  of  a  volcano,"  the  writer  continued. 

" '  I  hardly  think  so/  he  answered,  smiling  at  my  idea.  f  You  see 
the  rather  permanent  look  of  things  around  us,  and  I  believe  Popocate 
petl  has  had  no  eruption  for  some  thousands  of  years.' 

" '  So  much  the  more  reason  why  it  should  happen  now,'  I  said, 
flippantly,  for  there  was  a  slight  irony  in  his  tone,  though  I  declare  it 
to  you  I  have  only  lately  begun  to  get  over  breathing  gingerly  on  this 
account,  and  waking  up  of  nights  to  think  about  it. 

" '  You  will  not  deny  that  such  things  can  happen  and  have  hap 
pened  ?'  I  went  on,  more  seriously.  i  I  am  sure  before  Vesuvius  broke 
out  and  swallowed  up  Pompeii  the  ancients  had  looked  upon  it  as  wholly 
extinct,  and  never  thought  of  it  in  any  other  way.  I  remember,  too, 
that  Spartacus  was  besieged  there  by  a  Roman  army,  on  a  plain  that 
then  existed  in  the  top  of  it.  The  wonder  to  me  is  that  people  ever 
get  up  confidence  enough  to  do  anything  in  such  insecure  places.' 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  7 

"  Don  Walter  Arroyo  looked  as  if  he  were  a  little  surprised  at  my 
reading, — as,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  was  myself. 

" '  These  are  some  of  the  small  risks  one  takes  in  life,'  he  said, 
appearing  by  no  means  overcome  with  terror.  '  And  you  do  the  poor 
earthquake  and  volcano  injustice,  too.  They  have  many  good  points 
about  them.' 

"  '  Such  as  what,  I  should  like  to  know  ?' 

" '  They  are  a  vent  for  surplus  heat,  and  they  keep  up  the  neces 
sary  inequalities  of  the  earth's  surface,  which  would  otherwise  soon  be 
polished  down  by  the  elements  as  smooth  as  a  billiard-ball.' 

" '  The  earthquake  ought  to  honor  its  able  defender,  if  possible,  by 
special  exemptions,'  I  rejoined. 

"  It  was  a  long  time  since  I  had  teased  anybody,  and  I  felt  rather 
like  it. 

"  He  only  bowed,  in  his  smiling  way,  however,  and  concluded  with 
this,  which  I  thought  quite  striking : 

" '  For  my  part,  I  am  not  so  much  surprised  at  the  instability  of  the 
earth  as  its  real  solidity.  It  is  one  vast  net-work  of  cracks  and  active 
disturbances,  and  the  amusing  thing  is  the  way  men  and  their  civilized 
works  keep  on  it,  in  spite  of  all  its  efforts  to  shake  them  off.  We  ride 
it  a  good  deal  as  a  vaquero  rides  an  obstinately  bucking  pony,  and  we 
but  rarely  come  to  grief.' " 

To  another  person,  one  nearly  of  her  own  age,  a  certain  Emily  Win 
chester,  this  sprightly  correspondent  repeated  substantially  the  same 
account,  dwelling  a  little  more  fully  on  the  young  man  who  had  looked 
so  particularly  well  on  horseback. 

"  There  is  to  be  very  little  society  here,  it  seems,"  she  said ;  u  the 
places  are  so  far  apart,  and  the  people  have  had  so  many  feuds  and  revo 
lutions.  He  has  some  kind  of  surveying  to  do  for  the  General :  so  I 
suppose  he  will  come  back  again,  and  is  likely  to  be  one  of  our  few  vis 
itors.  He  is  really  very  handsome,  and  you  know  your  friend  Amy's 
penchant  for  good  looks.  Will  you  ever  forget  our  silliness  over  Mon 
tague  ?  How  many  of  us  were  there  who  used  to  adore  his  photograph 
and  post  ourselves  in  front  seats  at  the  matinees  ?  Seilor  Don  Walter 
Arroyo — I  like  the  solid  air  of  the  simple '  Walter*  added  to  the  roman 
tic  surname — is  half  or  even  wholly  American.  I  don't  understand  all 
the  circumstances,  but  he  was  brought  up  by  relations,  three  old  maiden 
ladies,  in  the  neighboring  town.  They  live  on  a  small  income,  and  he 
looks  after  some  of  their  property.  He  has  had  a  scientific  education, 
but  I  believe  does  not  practise  any  profession  regularly. 

"  When  I  say  he  is  handsome  I  do  not  mean  that  there  is  anything 
finical  about  him ;  on  the  contrary,  he  has  a  strong  and  manly  air ; 
there  is  a  certain  plainness,  if  you  can  see  what  I  mean,  in  the  midst  of 
his  good  looks.  Is  this  enough  about  a  man  whom  I  have  met  only 
once  ?  What  should  you  think  if  I  should  marry  a  Fra  Diavolo  sort 
of  husband  and  settle  down  here  in  the  tropics  for  good  and  all  ?  But 
what  is  the  use  of  being  girls  if  we  cannot  be  nonsensical  together  once 
in  a  while?  Not  that  society,  to  be  serious  again,  is  of  the  least  conse 
quence  to  me,  for,  besides  this  heavenly  place,  I  have  all  the  surround 
ing  hamlets  and  all  the  little  provincial  city  to  explore,  and  the  few 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 


months  of  my  visit  will  pass  only  too  quickly.  I  Lave  not  left  the 
hacienda  as  yet,  but  to-morrow  or  next  day  we  shall  go  to  Cuernavaca. 
A  small  village  lies  between,  and  it  is  about  four  miles  away." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  YELLOW  SNAKE  IS  FIRST  HEARD  OP. 

ON  the  next  day  but  one,  in  fact,  the  family  drove  into  town,  in 
their  ramshackle  conveyance,  with  two  mozos,  or  outriders,  both  as 
servants  and  guards,  behind  them.  It  was  ramshackle  not  for  want 
of  a  better,  since  they  had  the  most  modish  of  everything  in  their 
stables  at  Mexico,  but  on  account  of  the  condition  of  the  roads,  and 
because  most  of  the  travelling  of  the  country  was  done  on  horseback. 

The  del  Prados  sat  in  it  beaming  with  an  air  of  benevolent  con 
tentment.  There  were  various  commissions  to  be  accomplished.  The 
market-arcades,  gay  as  a  scene  at  the  opera,  the  bizarre  figures,  the 
great,  ruddy  water-jars,  drew  forth  the  admiration  of  Amy.  For  her 
the  most  ordinary  details  of  common  life  were  full  of  interest,  the 
theatre,  the  hotel,  the  municipal  building,  a  few  soldiers  practising  on 
their  bugles  before  it,  and  particularly  some  prisoners  working  on  the 
pavements,  under  guard,  who  frightened  her. 

The  Madre  (Mother),  as  they  called  the  Senora  del  Prado, — often 
varying  it  with  the  affectionate  diminutives  of  Madrecita  and  Mamatila, 
— assisted  by  her  daughter,  explained  everything.  She  was  an  old 
lady,  with  bright  eyes,  a  large  mouth,  iron-gray  hair,  and,  at  a  first 
glance,  a  rather  stern  look  on  her  dark  face ;  but  this  was  misleading, 
for  there  was  really  no  unpleasant  sternness  about  her.  She  was  of  a 
more  conservative  cast  than  the  General,  coming  from  one  of  the  old, 
aristocratic  "  Mocho"  families,  and  having  her  sympathies  still  strongly 
bound  up  with  them,  while  her  husband — though  he  too,  to  be  sure, 
was  of  just  as  ancient  lineage — was  an  enlightened  member  of  the 
party  of  progress  and  liberal  ideas.  Such  intermarriages  are  not  in 
frequent  in  the  country,  and,  needless  to  say,  the  feminine  conservatism 
has  to  give  way,  though  making  itself  much  felt  under  the  surface. 

They  stopped  at  the  drug-store,  with  its  colored  bottles,  the  grocer's, 
with  his  long  rows  of  white  tapers  suspended  before  his  door,  and  then 
turned  down  a  side-street  to  find  a  little  shop  where  dried  rose-leaves, 
and  all  kinds  of  dried  herbs,  medicinal  and  culinary,  were  exposed  for 
sale.  Just  coming  out  of  this  shop  as  they  reached  it  were  two  women 
in  a  garb  resembling  that  of  nuns  and  yet  retaining  about  it  something 
secular.  One  of  them  had  a  perfectly  charming  face,  young,  roseate, 
and  demure,  under  a  dark  shawl,  much  heavier  than  the  usual  mantilla. 
The  other  was  middle-aged,  plain,  raw-boned,  an  entirely  matter-of- 
fact-looking  person. 

The  Sefiora  del  Prado  spoke  to  them  very  kindly,  and  made  Amy 
acquainted  wTith  them,  introducing  the  younger  one  as  Sister  Beatriz, 
and  the  other  as  Sister  Praxedis. 

"  And  what  brings  you  to  town  to-day  ?"  she  asked  them. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  9 

"  We  have  sold  some  of  our  embroideries  and  dried  herbs,"  answered 
Beatriz. 

"  I  am  sorry  we  have  not  room  for  you  in  the  carriage  :  I  would 
like  so  much  to  drive  you  home." 

"  We  do  not  mind  the  walk,  we  are  so  well  used  to  it.  Besides, 
we  are  not  going  yet,"  said  Praxedis.  Her  eyes  wandered,  as  if  in 
voluntarily,  to  the  belfry  clock  of  an  old,  half-ruined  church  across 
the  way,  beautiful  in  its  decay,  as  are  a  myriad  more  throughout  the 
country. 

"  Ah,  yes,  you  go  and  pray  sometimes  in  the  garden  of  your  former 
convent  ?" 

"  Yes,  but  before  that  we  are  going  to  breakfast  with  the  Sefloritas 
Arroyo.  Many  of  our  friends  are  very  kind  to  us." 

"  They  are  the  aunts  of  Don  Walter.  There  are  three  of  them,  and 
three  of  the  Sisters, — Dofia  Cataliua  is  left  at  home, — and  they  consort 
much  together,"  said  the  Madre,  after  the  others  had  gone,  smiling  as 
if  with  a  feeling  of  humor  about  it.  "  The  Sefloritas  Arroyo  are  good 
women.  They  must  have  been  very  hard  to  suit  in  their  youth,  or 
some  say  their  father  did  not  wish  them  to  marry,  and  used  all  his 
influence  against  it.  They  have  rather  spoiled  their  nephew  by  want 
of  firmness.  He  is  too  wild  a  colt  for  them  to  manage, — though  he's  a 
favorite  of  mine,  too,  and  has  many  fine  qualities." 

"  There  is  Don  Walter  himself,"  exclaimed  Luz,  pointing  him  out. 

"  Yes,  with  Captain  Francisco  Perez  again.  That  man  will  bring 
him  to  no  good." 

They  saw  Walter  riding  into  the  street  in  dusty  attire,  beside  a  man 
much  older  than  himself,  who  was  mounted  on  a  large,  powerful  charger, 
and  looked  back  from  time  to  time  after  a  number  of  half-clad  peons 
bringing  along  some  agricultural  implements. 

"  That  man  looks  like  a  bandit,"  said  Amy  ;  "  but  so  did  they  all  at 
first :  I  suppose  he  is  no  worse  than  the  rest." 

"  He  has  been,"  responded  the  Madre,  "  and  I  can't  conceive  why 
Walter  will  associate  with  him." 

"I've  seen  the  time,  during  my  term  as  governor,  when  I  should 
have  had  him  shot  at  a  moment's  notice,  if  I  could  have  laid  hands 
upon  him,"  said  the  General,  rousing  himself  from  his  taciturnity  for 
the  nonce  to  confirm  this  view. 

"And  now  just  because  he  pretended  to  devote  himself  to  the  ser 
vice  of  the  existing  government  in  the  last  part  of  the  troubles, — it  was 
always  one  for  them  and  two  for  himself,  I'll  warrant, — they  let  him 
settle  down  as  a  respectable  ranchero  and  honored  member  of  society.  I 
declare  it's  too  bad  to  see  him  allowed  to  lead  a  young  man  astray. 
There's  no  telling  what  mischief  they  are  up  to  together." 

Don  Walter  now  discovered  them,  and  rode  forward  and  greeted 
them  with  a  fine,  deferential,  yet  easy  air.  Sefiora  del  Prado  shook 
her  finger  at  him  at  the  first  opportunity,  and  taxed  him  with  his  bad 
company. 

"  On  the  contrary,"  said  he,  "  I  have  been  away  finishing  the  survey 
of  the  northern  boundary  of  your  estate,  ever  since  I  saw  you  last,  and 
I  only  met  Captain  Perez  just  here  by  accident.  The  return  of  the  Gen- 


10  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

eral  reminded  me  of  my  negligence :  I  should  have  had  the  work  done 
before." 

"  Then  I  hold  you  excused,"  said  the  Madre,  holding  out  her  hand 
to  him  in  a  friendly  way. 

"  Shall  I  do  myself  the  honor  of  waiting  on  you  to-morrow  to  present 
my  report,  General  ?" 

"  To-morrow  or  when  you  please ;  my  house  is  always  yours." 

Don  Walter,  before  riding  away  again,  apologized  for  his  travel- 
stained  appearance.  His  work,  he  said,  had  been  in  a  very  rough  part 
of  the  country,  in  the  thick  mountain-forests  and  along  the  Barranca 
of  Cimarron,  a  place  seldom  visited.  His  eyes  roved  with  a  respectful 
admiration,  which  he  seemed  to  make  efforts  to  check,  over  the  fair  face 
of  Amy  as  he  talked,  and  he  paid  her,  with  the  other  ladies,  some  well- 
turned  compliments,  by  which  even  the  most  decorously  brought  up  of 
young  women  could  hardly  have  failed  to  be  gratified. 

"  Do  not  be  ensnared  by  him,"  said  the  General,  however,  by  way 
of  playful  warning :  "  the  blonde  type  of  beauty  is  rather  rare  among  us, 
and  you  may  expect  plenty  of  floras — compliments,  literally  flowers — 
while  you  are  here." 

They  stayed  quite  a  while  at  the  herb-shop,  and  then  stopped  to 
buy  shoes  at  a  shop  advertising  itself  under  the  sign  of  "  The  Boot  of 
Venus,"  which  consumed  a  good  deal  more  of  their  time. 

Meanwhile  Don  Walter  dismounted  at  a  small  new  fonda  or  restau 
rant  under  the  columned  portals  that  ran  round  the  principal  square. 
This  place  had  lately  been  opened  by  one  Antonio  Gassol,  a  former 
employee  of  the  hacienda  of  Las  Delicias,  as  a  rival  to  the  fonda  of  the 
Bella  Union,  in  the  opposite  corner. 

"  What  can  you  give  me  in  the  way  of  a  bite  of  breakfast  ?"  demanded 
the  customer,  sliding  easily  into  a  chair  by  a  small  table. 

The  landlord  assured  him  that  everything  in  the  earth,  air,  and  sea 
was  at  his  command,  but  the  best  dish  he  had  ready  at  the  moment  was 
a  very  fine  pucker o,  or  general  stew. 

" Bring  it  on,  then.     And  what  is  the  news  here  of  late?" 

"  For  one  thing,  General  del  Prado  has  returned  from  the  United 
States.  He  drove  through  the  plaza  here  awhile  ago." 

"  Yes,  I  knew  he  was  back." 

"  And  he  has  brought  with  him  the  handsomest  young  girl  in  all 
the  Norte, — a  friend  of  his  daughter's,  so  some  old  acquaintances  at  the 
hacienda  tell  me.  Her  hair,  down  her  back,  is  as  bright  as  so  many 
sunbeams.  My,  but  she's  a  beauty  !  She's  prettier  than  that  picture 
over  there."  . 

"Hombre!"  (Man!)  exclaimed  Walter,  in  affected  astonishment. 
The  picture  referred  to  was  a  wretched  daub  of  the  Mexican  goddess 
of  liberty  on  the  wall  back  of  the  counter,  whence  pulque,  the  native 
beverage,  was  chiefly  dispensed. 

"  I  swear  it  by  my  head  and  the  merits  of  all  my  defunct  relations," 
cried  Antonio  Gassol,  enthusiastically. 

"And  how  is  it  with  yourself?"  pursued  the  visitor,  affably,  think 
ing  perhaps  he  had  heard  sufficient  on  this  subject. 

"  Oh,  I  ?     I  am  having  much  trouble  just  now  on  account  of  my 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  \\ 

sign,  which  I'm  expecting  the  men  here  every  minute  to  put  up.  Are 
you  a  good  judge  in  those  matters  ?" 

"  Not  very,  I'm  afraid." 

"  Well,  you  see,  I  want  the  title  of  my  place  to  give  satisfaction, 
and  it's  cost  me  many  a  good  night's  sleep  to  pick  out  just  the  right 
one.  A  title  may  make  or  mar  a  man ;  I've  known  it  to  be  done." 

"And  what  did  you  settle  upon?" 

"La  Alma  de  Mexico  (the  Soul  of  Mexico),  but  there  are  so  many 
others  that  might  have  been  chosen.  How  would  '  The  Ancient  Glory 
of  Mexico'  strike  you  ?  That  has  a  more  sonorous  sound.  Then  there 
was  the  'Sun  of  May;'  'The  Spring;'  'The  Diana;'  'The  Great  Mis 
sissippi;'  'The "; 

But  here  the  men  arrived  with  the  sign,  and  he  broke  off,  and 
rushed  out  to  meet  them.  Don  Walter,  having  finished  his  repast,  fol 
lowed  in  a  more  leisurely  way.  By  that  time  a  little  crowd  had  gath 
ered  round.  General  del  Prado  was  passing  again,  and  Antonio  Gassol 
ran  into  the  street,  challenged  the  attention  of  the  carriage,  and  brought 
it  to  his  door  almost  by  main  force. 

"  Will  you  do  me  the  great  favor,  my  General,"  he  cried,  "  to  give 
us  your  honored  opinion  on  this  point?  Some  of  the  boys  object  to 
my  new  sign.  There  it  is  up  there,  and  a  neat  bit  of  work  too,  if  I 
dare  say  so  myself." 

"So  it  is  neat,"  said  the  General,  with  a  sort  of  fatherly  interest  in 
the  fortunes  of  his  late  servant  that  was  pleasant  to  observe. 

"  There,  you  see,  boys !  I  couldn't  please  you  all,  could  I  ?  I 
wanted  to  do  what  was  right  and  fair  all  round,  but  you  can  under 
stand  that  for  yourselves." 

"  What  is  the  question  at  issue,  friend  Antonio  ?  we  shall  never  get 
on,  at  this  rate." 

"  Some  of  them  objected  that  La  Alma  de  Mexico  was  too  old,  and 
that  many  fondas  have  that  name  already." 

"  So  they  have,"  spoke  up  a  voice  from  the  crowd  in  a  disgusted 
way :  "  there  are  more  than  a  million  Alma  de  Mexico's  in  the  country 
now." 

"  Ah  !  that  is  you,  Perfecto  Ponce ;  you  are  there,  are  you  ?  You 
were  the  principal  one. — What  do  you  think  he  wanted  ?  Why,  that  I 
should  take  a  tradition  of  the  district  he  and  I  come  from,  and  call  the 
place  '  The  Famous  Yellow  Snake.'  He  argues  that  this  would  be  some 
thing  especially  appropriate,  as  belonging  to  our  own  part  of  the  country. 
I  say  it  would  bring  us  bad  luck." 

"  There  was  a  little  fonda  of  that  name  up  there  at  5uetongo  that 
did  very  well,  and  you  know  it.  Many's  the  drink  of  pulque  we've 
had  there  together.  Besides,  if  there's  any  evil  influence  afloat  you 
want  to  conciliate  it,  don't  you?  Politeness  is  not  thrown  away,  I 
suppose,  even  on  bad  traditions." 

"  I  don't  see  where  -the  novelty  comes  in,  then ;  and  in  a  city  some 
thing  more  civilized  is  needed.  But  one  of  you  chooses  one  thing,  and 
another  another :  even  if  I  agreed  with  you,  the  rest  would  still  have 
their  own  ideas." 

"  I  prefer  '  El  Demonic,'  or  '  El  DelirioJ  "  spoke  up  a  new  voice. 


12  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  I  have  known  those  titles  to  succeed  finely.  They  have  a  bold  sound, 
and  give  a  place  an  air  of  excitement  like." 

"  There,  you  see " 

But  at  this  moment  the  Jefe  Politico,  an  officer  somewhat  corre 
sponding  to  our  mayor,  but  with  a  wider  jurisdiction,  came  up.  He 
was  a  pompous,  self-sufficient,  stupid  person,  and  the  subject  of  con 
troversy  had  to  be  re-stated  for  his  ears.  He  had,  in  truth,  an  interest 
of  his  own  in  the  Bella  Union,  opposite,  and  looked  with  no  favor 
whatever  upon  the  new  enterprise.  Nevertheless,  feeling  the  eyes  of 
his  fellow-citizens  upon  him,  he  assumed  a  weighty,  judicial  air,  as  if 
considering  a  case  of  important  bearings. 

"  The  point  is  right  here ;  here  is  the  issue,"  he  began,  placing  a 
forefinger  in  the  palm  of  his  hand.  "  I  can  tell  you  absolutely  every 
thing  in  these  matters.  For  instance — names  were  invented  in  early 
times — names  come  down  to  us  from  historic  ages." 

If  the  point  were  in  the  palm  of  his  fat  hand,  it  stayed  there ;  for 
he  made  little  further  progress  with  his  argument.  The  crowd  began 
to  murmur  with  impatience. 

"  I  had  many  other  names,"  said  Gassol,  seizing  an  opportunity,  in 
his  eagerness.  "  There  was  ( the  Aurora/  the  '  Fountain  of  Love.' " 

"  Why  not  '  the  Fountain/  pure  and  simple  ?"  interposed  Don 
Walter,  mockingly.  "  A  great  future  awaits  the  tavern-keeper  or  the 
milkman  who  honestly  confesses  to  baptizing  his  liquids."  And  he 
hummed,  in  the  words  of  a  popular  air, — 

"El pulquero  que  lo  intiende 
Mas  agua  que  pulque  vende." 

("  The  pulque-dealer  who  understands  himself  more  water  than  pulque 
sells.") 

The  Jefe  almost  seemed  to  take  this  levity  as  an  offence  levelled 
directly  at  himself. 

"  *  Bella  Union'  is  the  most  excellent  of  titles  for  a  fonda ;  there 
is  none  better;  you  might  learn  of  your  neighbors,"  said  he,  with  the 
nearest  approach  to  coherence  he  had  yet  made. 

He  strode  out  to  mount  his  horse,  thereupon,  with  such-  rough  in 
advertence  that  his  heavy  spurs  struck  the  naked  legs  of  Trinidad  Jos§, 
one  of  the  mozos  accompanying  the  del  Prados,  and  caused  that  worthy 
servant  to  wince  with  pain. 

"  Old  fraud  !  old  ruffian  !"  murmured  Trinidad  JosS,  looking  after 
him  indignantly ;  "  but  I  know  something  that  will  make  me  even  with 
you  yet," 

"  Well,  now  your  sign  is  all  nicely  painted  and  put  up,  isn't  it  ?" 
said  General  del  Prado  conciliatingly  to  Antonio  Gassol,  preparing  to 
drive  on.  "  What  if  it  has  been  heard  a  good  deal  before,  and  isn't 
exactly  original  ?  You  know  there  are  a  great  many  people  who  will 
only  like  it  all  the  better  for  that." 

"  There,  you  see  ?  I  told  you  so,"  Gassol  could  be  heard  saying, 
behind  them. 

"  What  is  all  this  about  a  Yellow  Snake?  It  seems  as  if  I  recol 
lected  hearing  something  of  the  kind  before,"  demanded  the  General. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  13 

"  I  am  the  one  to  apply  to ;  I  am  just  from  that  locality,"  responded 
Walter,  riding  beside  the  carriage.  "  The  story  prevails  chiefly  among 
the  poor  Indian  population  of  charcoal-burners  on  the  way  to  the  deso 
late  Barranca  of  Cimarron.  They  believe  some  ancient  deity  appears 
in  that  gorge  under  the  form  of  a  serpent  and  brings  bad  luck  to  who 
ever  sets  eyes  upon  him." 

Sefiorita  Luz  crossed  herself,  her  New  York  education  not  yet  having 
changed  her  simple  ways  to  any  great  extent. 

"  I  suppose  it  is  only  a  vestige  of  the  worship  of  the  god  Quetzal- 
coatl,"  Walter  continued.  "  One  of  his  titles  was  '  The  Shining  Snake.' 
He  is  the  god  in  whose  day  the  cotton  used  to  grow  ready  dyed  with 
gorgeous  hues,  and  a  single  ear  of  corn  was  provision  enough  for  a 
large  family." 

"  Those  people  are  half  idolaters  yet,"  said  the  General,  in  a  fatigued 
way,  "  though  they  ought  to  have  been  Christians  these  last  three  hun 
dred  years." 

"  To  be  sure  they  are.  They  have  caves  with  altars  in  them  that 
divide  their  worship  with  the  churches;  and  how  often  idols  are  found 
in  the  maguey-fields,  to  which  they  furtively  pay  their  devotions !" 

"  Dios  mio  /"  murmured  the  Seflora,  piously. 

"  The  secret  of  keeping  up  the  tradition  so  long  is  probably  that 
scarcely  any  one  has  ever  been  down  there  to  test  it,  for  the  place  is  all 
but  inaccessible,"  said  Walter  Arroyo. 

The  mozo  Trinidad  Jose1,  who  had  worked  as  near  as  possible  to  hear 
the  conversation,  upon  this  touched  his  hat  respectfully,  and  ventured, — 

"I  have  been  there,  and  I  know  it  is  unlucky." 

"  You  have  been  there, — you,  Trinidad  Jos6  ?"  they  exclaimed. 

"  I  blundered  into  it  once  on  a  hunting-trip,  when  I  was  a  young 
man,  from  the  other  end,  near  the  lake." 

"  And  what  happened  to  you  ? 

"  Nothing  happened  to  me,  but  the  day  after  my  return  the  Eng 
lish  governess  and  many  of  the  animals  were  killed  by  lightning." 

"  Was  she  governess  of  your  family  ?" 

"  No,  she  was  educating  the  children  at  the  hacienda, — you  know 
it  very  well,  General,"  returned  the  mozo,  reproachfully, — "  but  she  died 
under  a  tree  near  my  corral." 

The  family  told  Amy  about  this  young  Englishwoman.  She  had 
arrived  to  begin  her  labors  but  a  few  weeks  before  her  death,  and  she 
was  buried  under  the  same  tree  where  she  had  met  her  fate. 

After  that  Amy  would  hear  more  about  the  nun  or  half-nun,  Bea- 
triz,  whose  sweet  face  had  interested  her. 

"  You  know  of  course  that  all  the  convents  were  abolished  here  ?" 
began  Seflora  del  Prado. 

"  No,  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  did  not  know  it." 

"  Not  even  the  Sisters  of  Charity  were  exempted.  Our  odious,  so- 
called  '  Laws  of  Reform ' " 

"  Lucetta  !"  expostulated  her  husband. 

"  Well,  they  permit  no  more  than  three  of  the  ex-nuns  to  live  to 
gether  even  in  secular  life,"  she  continued,  more  temperately.  "  Dofla 
Beatriz,  only  a  novice,  just  beginning  her  religious  life  when  this  cruel 


14  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

edict  was  enforced,  was  one  of  those  thrown  out  into  the  heartless  world. 
Two  others  live  with  her  at  Campo  Florido.  We  do  all  we  can  for 
the  poor  things/'  sighing,  "  and  but  for  our  husbands,  who  make  the 
laws Well,  amor  de  Dios  !" 

Don  Walter  Arroyo,  after  leaving  the  party,  had  ridden  to  his  own 
home  in  the  quiet  plazuela  of  San  Ysidro.  The  two  ex-nuns,  having 
breakfasted  there,  were  just  coming  out  as  he  entered  the  great  green 
door  leading  to  an  inner  court-yard. 

"  Ah,  if  I  had  only  known  what  company  was  here,  I  should  not 
have  been  so  late,"  he  said,  applying  even  to  them  the  tone  of  courteous 
compliment  that  was  natural  to  him  with  women. 

Dofia  Praxedis  was  no  doubt  beyond  the  reach  of  all  such  blandish 
ments,  but  the  younger,  Dofia  Beatriz,  gave  him  a  smile  of  much  favor, 
and  even  colored  a  little. 

"  We  can  hardly  expect  you  to  arrive  at  a  fixed  hour  after  so  long 
a  journey,  my  dear  Walter,"  said  Miss  Concepcion,  the  eldest  of  the 
three  Arroyo  sisters,  "  and  you  shall  still  have  your  breakfast." 

"  I  have  already  breakfasted,  so  as  not  to  put  you  out." 

He  went  to  his  chamber,  which  the  kind  care  of  the  spinsters  had 
made  perhaps  the  pleasantest  in  the  house,  and  passed  some  hours  there 
nervously  arranging  the  notes  of  his  survey  and  other  papers.  When 
he  issued  forth  again,  he  threw  himself  at  full  length  upon  a  settee  in 
the  large,  cool,  brick-floored  parlor,  and  began  to  talk  in  a  discontented 
way,  that  by  degrees  grew  more  feverish,  of  his  prospects  in  life. 

"  I  sometimes  think  it  might  be  a  little  better  if  you  hunted  less 
with  Captain  Perez,"  began  Miss  Martica,  the  second  sister,  with  mild 
reproach. 

"  He  is  the  best  shot  and  boldest  rider  in  the  district,"  he  answered, 
.as  if  that  were  a  quite  sufficient  response. 

"  But  really  such  a  companionship  must  have  a  certain  unsettling 
influence,"  she  pleaded,  gently,  "  and  make  you  less  energetic  in  busi 
ness." 

"  Captain  Perez  is  the  very  best  fellow  in  the  world  ;  if  others  will 
talk  against  him,  I  never  wish  to  hear  it.  His  kindness  to  me  com 
menced  even  when  I  was  a  poor,  unfriended  little  chap  living  in  the 
gloomy  ruin  at  Resales ;  and  he  has  done  me  many  a  good  turn  ever 
since." 

"  And  you  still  remember  Resales  so  well  ?"  inquired  Miss  Ysabel, 
the  youngest,  and  there  was  a  certain  spice  of  curiosity  in  her  tone. 

"  How  can  I  ever  forget  it  ?  Nothing  will  ever  again  be  so  stamped 
upon  my  memory  as  that.  Do  I  not  know  why  we  lived  that  way, 
why  my  father  had  fled  from  the  United  States  and  concealed  himself 
there?" 

"  It  was  a  great  misfortune,  it  was  a  great  misfortune,"  she  sighed, 
"  but  I  have  always  thought  your  father  should  never  have  told  you : 
there  was  no  need  of  his  doing  so." 

"  Should  he  have  left  me  to  discover  it  for  myself,  then  ?  No,  in 
deed,  it  was  plainly  his  duty,  if  he  could  not  put  me  in  a  position  to 
redeem  the  crushing  disgrace,  to  at  least  keep  me  from  intruding  upon 
the  scene  of  it.  Oh,  they  hissed  him  there  in  the  streets !"  he  went  on, 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  15 

fiercely  :  "  some  of  his  victims,  whose  fortunes  he  had  wrecked,  would 
have  killed  him  if  he  had  not  escaped.  He  told  me  all, — all !" 

He  groaned  aloud  as  he  drifted  along  with  less  and  less  control  upon 
a  flood  of  painful  recollections  to  which  he  rarely  committed  himself  so 
fully. 

"  No,  no,  do  not  talk  of  it !  Why  will  you  recall  it,  and  who  knows 
the  story  here  ?  No  one  can  ever  say  it  was  any  fault  of  yours.  All 
will  come  right  in  due  time,"  the  listeners  expostulated,  keenly  suffering 
with  him. 

"  Three  millions  of  money  to  be  made  good,  and  even  as  much  more, 
with  the  interest  accrued  in  the  mean  time ;  and  all  that  wrong  and  suf 
fering  to  be  undone  before  I  can  stand  squarely  on  my  feet  and  face  the 
world  like  other  men !"  he  exclaimed,  as  if  summing  up  all  his  griefs  in 
one  final  statement. 

He  was  one  much  given  to  alternate  moods  of  brightness  and  de 
pression,  but  rarely  had  they  seen  him  so  downcast  as  now.  No  more 
words  were  spoken,  but  Miss  Concepcion  went  over  to  the  gloomy  figure, 
with  his  head  deeply  buried  in  the  pillows  as  if  to  shut  out  the  world 
for  evermore,  and  sat  by  him  a  long  time,  stroking  his  hair  soothingly. 

"  What  a  misfortune  !  What  a  misfortune  !"  the  three  sisters  mur 
mured  to  one  another  very  sadly  that  night  as  they  made  their  modest 
preparations  for  slumber. 


CHAPTER  III. 

IDYLLIC  TIMES  AT  LAS  DELICIAS. 

WHEN  Walter  arrived  at  Las  Delicias  on  the  morrow,  he  surprised 
a  little  scene  not  meant  for  the  public  view.  In  the  long  drawing- 
room,  a  noble,  simple  apartment  furnished  in  the  style  of  the  First 
Empire,  Luz  and  some  younger  sisters  were  trying  upon  Amy  the 
effect  of  the  graceful  mantilla,  which  in  Spanish  countries  replaces  the 
bonnet.  The  black  lace  contrasted  charmingly  with  her  bright  hair 
and  a  fawn-colored  gown  which  fitted  very  smoothly  over  her  nice 
shoulders  and  round  arms. 

At  sight  of  Walter  she  would  have  hastily  pulled  off  the  veil ;  the 
others  would  not  have  it,  but  invited  his  criticism  instead,  and  so  she 
left  herself  helpless,  as  it  were,  in  their  hands. 

Walter  was  downcast  and  quieter  than  usual,  and  it  was  the  General, 
just  then  coming  in,  who  paid  the  compliments. 

"  She  can  give  our  little  Mexicans  lessons  in  wearing  their  own 
costume,"  said  the  General. 

They  kept  Walter  to  dinner,  and  then  his  spirits  revived. 

"After  all,"  he  said,  "why  not  enjoy  the  pleasures  fate  provides 
for  me?" 

After  dinner  the  papers  were  spread  out  upon  a  table  placed  in  an 
open  corridor  around  a  central  court,  in  which  a  fountain  played.  The 
family  gathered  there  also.  While  the  reading  of  the  report  progressed, 
one  might  glance  over  at  the  opposite  wall,  ornamented  with  a  pattern 
not  unlike  that  of  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Venice,  with  carven  gargoyles, 


16  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

and  a  strip  of  blue  sky  above  it,  or  catch,  through  the  rear  portal, 
alluring  glimpses  of  the  greenery  of  the  gardens.  At  that  place  was  a 
sunny  parterre,  enamelled  with  flower-beds,  and  planted  but  thinly  with 
fragrant  lemon  and  limoncillo.  At  a  tall,  clipped  hedge  began  the 
grateful  shade  of  the  gardens  proper.  The  hacienda  was  like  those 
characters  which  do  not  display  themselves  wholly  to  the  first  comer, 
but  reserve  their  choicest  qualities  for  their  intimates. 

"  I  find,  General,  that  your  line  follows  the  lava-bed  along  to  the 
hither  edge  of  the  Barranca  of  Cimarron,  and  does  not  take  in  that 
chasm,"  said  Don  Walter. 

"Are  you  sure  of  that?" 

"  I  have  verified  the  survey  very  carefully." 

"  Well,  a  good  riddance  to  bad  rubbish.  So  the  Yellow  Snake 
does  not  belong  to  us  after  all,  eh  ?  The  right  goes  over  to  Neighbor 
Garcia,  I  suppose?" 

"  Why,  no,  not  to  him  either.  I  did  the  same  sort  of  work  for  him 
a  couple  of  years  ago,  and  his  boundary  stops  short  of  the  other  side  of 
it.  So  the  space  covered  by  the  Barranca,  and  a  little  more,  is  a  sort  of 
No  Man's  Land,  to  be  contended  for  most  likely  by  the  state  and  general 
government,  if  they  want  it." 

"  It  isn't  at  all  strange :  a  little  land  more  or  less  has  been  of  no 
great  account  here,"  said  the  General,  turning  to  Amy  in  an  explaining 
way.  "  I  will  tell  you  how  the  titles  were  chiefly  established  in  the 
first  place.  A  viceroy  would  ride  up  on  a  hill  with  a  friend  or  client 
of  his,  and  say,  '  I  give  you  all  the  laud  from  here  as  far  as  your  eye 
can  reach.'  Then  he  would  ride  up  on  another  hill,  not  so  very  far 
remote  from  the  first,  with  another  friend,  and  say  to  him,  '  I  give  you 
all  the  land  from  here  as  far  as  you  can  see,'  or  perhaps,  '  as  far  as  you 
can  go  in  half  a  day's  journey.'  Thus,  you  observe,  there  could  easily 
be  some  confusion." 

General  del  Prado  was  so  well  pleased  with  the  result  shown  him 
that  he  desired  to  have  Walter  next  undertake  an  accurate  plotting  of 
many  irregular  parcels  of  cultivated  ground  and  pasture  into  which  the 
hacienda  itself  was  divided.  The  young  man  .was  delighted  to  embrace 
the  opportunity  :  he  could  not  himself  have  planned  anything  that  would 
have  better  gratified  the  wishes  of  his  heart. 

This  employment  gave  him  association  with  Amy  in  the  freest,  most 
natural  way.  He  often  remained  over-night,  and  in  the  evening  there 
was  informal  dancing  in  the  long  parlor,  or  she  played  for  them  the 
national  airs  of  her  country  or  their  own.  She  commended  herself  to 
her  hosts  by  her  ready  enthusiasm ;  they  were  genuinely  pleased  to  hear 
her  declare  many  things  in  Mexico  much  better  than  in  the  United 
States. 

"  You  particularly  understand  how  to  make  life  stately,"  she  told 
them,  "and  that  the  Americans,  with  all  their  expenditure,  rarely 
arrive  at." 

The  leaning  to  the  picturesque  and  decorative  was  a  strongly- 
developed  factor  in  her  life.  She  went  about  with  little  sketch-books, 
in  which  she  put  down  odd  bits,  with  no  great  success,  but  with  tangi 
ble  enjoyment  to  herself. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  17 

"  It  is  like  living  in  picture-land,"  said  she.  "  Fancy  my  waking 
up  in  a  room  with  a  saint  and  cherubim  in  the  corner,  and  the  bed 
standing  on  a  dais  with  steps !  Sometimes  I  get  up  very  early  in  the 
morning  and  climb  a  low  staircase  to  the  bells.  I  like  to  sit  there  and 
look  off  at  the  fresh  lovely  landscape,  with  the  great  bell  just  over  my 
head  helping  to  frame  it  in.  Even  the  kitchen  has  a  hooded  chimney 
and  blue  tiles.  I  feel  as  if  something  historic,  or  rather  fairy-like, 
ought  to  happen  to  me  here." 

"  I  can  hardly  appreciate  the  differences  you  dwell  upon,  scarcely 
ever  having  been  used  to  anything  else,"  said  Don  Walter. 

And  he  was  led  into  questioning  her  with  interest  on  the  appear 
ances  of  things  in  the  United  States,  about  which  his  recollections  of 
infancy  were  so  exceedingly  vague.  He  was  evasive,  and  checked  him 
self,  however,  when  there  seemed  any  approach  towards  a  need  of  de 
claring  who  his  connections  were  there,  and  under  what  circumstances 
he  had  left  it. 

They  also  rode  together  a  good  deal  about  the  hacienda,  the  young 
women  sometimes  accompanying  Walter,  and  sometimes  repairing,  under 
proper  guard,  to  the  curious  points, — some  distant  corral,  or  an  aqueduct, 
or  an  irrigating  pond,  large  enough  for  a  lake,  where  he  was  at  work. 
Amy  had  looked  forward  to  mounting  into  the  saddle — in  which  she 
had  had  but  slight  experience — with  a  kind  of  longing  dread,  but,  the 
ice  once  broken,  she  made  up  in  courage  what  she  lacked  in  skill. 

Young  Walter  thought  her  masculine-looking  English  habit,  with 
her  high  silk  hat,  from  which  floated  a  blue  gauze  veil  like  a  light 
smoke  in  autumn,  even  more  becoming  than  her  costumes  of  every-day 
life. 

They  two,  as  Americans,  to  whom  all  things  are  permitted,  were 
allowed  to  be  together  with  more  freedom  than  might  otherwise  have 
been  the  case.  The  family  thought  good  to  warn  Amy  on  the  score  of 
Don  Walter's  rather  improvident  character,  and  that  he  would  not  be 
at  all  a  good  match  in  the  pecuniary  way,  but  they  were  reassured  by 
her  smile,  and  felt  that  this  companionship  was  only  another  of  her 
ways  of  enjoying  with  a  keen  zest  the  novelty  of  the  country.  Besides 
this,  too,  their  attention  was  drawn  away  from  it  by  something  of 
especial  interest  to  themselves. 

The  Jefe  Politico,  Sefior  Corcovedo,  it  appeared,  had  been  taken 
by  the  looks  of  Sefiorita  Luz,  young  as  she  was,  and,  though  he  him 
self  was  a  widower  of  even  more  than  middle  age,  was  coming  there  to 
pay  her  his  court. 

"  He  is  too  ugly ;  he  has  odious  high  cheek-bones  and  great  yellow 
teeth  like  a  gorilla,  and  he  is  stupid  and  without  manners,"  objected 
Senorita  Luz,  aroused  on  this  score  at  least  to  plenty  of  vivacity. 

There  were  traditions,  too,  of  repulsive  cruelty  he  had  used  in  the 
wars.  He  was  an  ignorant,  self-made  man,  who  had  pushed  himself 
well  to  the  front  and  feathered  his  nest  in  the  political  troubles.  Still, 
he  was  a  person  of  much  consideration,  he  stood  high  with  the  gov 
ernment,  being  sustained  by  the  favor  of  prominent  persons  of  the  more 
radical  wing  at  Mexico,  and  General  del  Prado,  moved  by  grounds  of 
worldly  policy,  thought  well  to  give  ample  opportunity  for  his  suit,  and 
VOL.  XLIL— 2 


lg  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

to  see  if  the  reluctance  of  his  daughter  might  not  be  overcome.  The 
daughter,  too, — since  he  was  her  first  suitor,  even  though  a  repulsive 
one, — was  not  so  wholly  uncivil  to  him  as  might  have  been  supposed. 

Meanwhile,  Amy  had  not  forgotten  the  sweet-looking  young  mm 
she  Irad  met  at  Cuernavaca.  This  was  a  figure  by  whose  appearance 
and  unusual  history  she  had  been  particularly  struck.  Sefiora  del 
Prado  took  her  to  see  the  embroideries  of  the  ex-Sisters,  and  she  some 
times  returned  there  alone.  They  lived  in  a  pleasant,  one-story  house, 
of  the  rural  sort,  in  the  hamlet  of  Campo  Florido,  not  far  from  the 
hacienda.  Their  principal  room  was  of  large  size,  brick-floored,  and 
cool,  and  looked  out  on  one  side  into  the  grass-grown,  principal  street, 
and  on  the  other  into  a  charming,  simple  garden. 

Amy,  whose  imagination  was  easily  kindled,  said  to  Beatrix,  as  she 
sat  there  with  the  latter  one  day,  learning  a  new  lace  stitch, — 

"  How  charming  and  peaceful  your  life  is  !  It  seems  ideal.  Some 
times  I  cannot  help  envying  you." 

"  Ah,  no,  I  am  very  unfortunate :  I  am  neither  of  the  world  nor 
out  of  it,"  returned  the  recluse,  sadly.  "  How  many  of  its  distractions 
and  temptations  are  thrown  in  upon  us  here !  I  am  not  strong  enough 
to  withstand  them :  I  often  feel  myself  falling  away  from  a  high  ideal 
and  growing  worse  daily." 

Dofia  Beatrix  returned  the  liking  of  the  pretty  American,  so  novel 
a  person  for  her,  and  was  sometimes  also  at  the  hacienda,  to  repay  her 
visits.  They  were  all  assembled  in  the  corridor  on  one  occasion  just 
after  she  had  left  them,  when  the  Jefe  Politico,  wholly  without  tact, 
and  riding  rough-shod  over  the  favorite  leanings  of  those  whom  he 
was  making  a  pretence  to  conciliate,  began, — 

"  Bah !  they're  a  fine  lot,  the  nuns, — these  mincing,  genteelish 
ones  of  the  order  of  Santa  Rosa  as  well  as  the  rest.  I'd  send  them  all 
packing  if  I  had  my  way,  many  or  few." 

"  Sefior  Corcovedo !"  protested  the  Madre,  flushing  strongly  with 
indignation.  This  was  the  day  that  finally  settled  his  case,  so  that  after 
that  they  would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  him. 

"  I  speak  only  for  myself,"  said  the  Jefe.  "  The  point  is  here, 
immediately  here.  Well,  then,  for  example — does  it  not  seem  so  to 
you  ? — I  have  many  excellent  ideas.  I  discuss  from  the  point  of  view 
of  science.  In  science  I  can  tell  you  everything,  absolutamente  every 
thing.  I  have  made  many  orations,  as  is  necessary  for  a  public  official 
— for  example,  at  banquets — you  understand  what  I  mean." 

Amy  tooted  an  imaginary  trumpet  behind  him. 

"  They  pull  poor  faces,"  he  went  on,  "  these  women,  like  the  one 
who  has  just  gone  away,  but  I'll  bet  the  three  have  the  treasure  that 
used  to  belong  to  their  convent  comfortably  hidden  somewhere.  I  have 
had  a  notion  more  than  once  to  employ  detectives  and  look  it  up." 

"  It  was  probably  taken  out  of  the  country  by  the  Mother  Superior 
and  others  who  went  abroad,"  suggested  the  General. 

"  I  don't  believe  it — no,  sir.  Somebody  has  brought  me  the  story 
that  it  was  not.  Besides,  it  was  too  bulky.  Why,  they  had  a  solid 
silver  railing  across  their  altar,  and  golden  candlesticks  higher  than  I 
am,  and  as  thick  through  the  body.  I  say  nothing  of  all  the  crowns, 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  19 

bracelets,  necklaces,  and  rings,  set  with  precious  stones,  they  had  on 
the  images,  with  the  rain  of  emeralds,  rubies,  pearls,  and  diamonds, 
scattered  over  their  silken  garments,  and  the  solid  cash  in  the  treasury. 
And  now  they  make  the  government  pay  some  hundreds  of  dollars  a 
year  to  support  them." 

He  was  much  more  direct  in  his  talk  on  such  a  point  as  this. 
Indeed,  in  all  matters  involving  a  rough  sort  of  executive  ability, 
especially  in  the  directions  of  greed  and  persecution,  he  was  not  lack 
ing  in  spite  of  his  foggy  speech. 

The  Sefiora  del  Prado  and  her  daughter  had  already  gone  away  in 
dudgeon.  This  talk,  in  fact,  broke  up  the  group.  Don  Walter  and 
Amy  went  to  the  garden.  It  was  in  the  great  gardens  that  perhaps 
their  pleasantest  hours  of  all  were  spent.  They  passed  along  a  bosky 
walk,  opening  into  a  sort  of  Pantheon  of  clipped  foliage,  in  niches  of 
which  were  set  Flora,  Bacchus,  Apollo,  and  the  like.  The  path  hence 
was  narrow,  and  at  the  end  of  it  you  came,  quite  by  surprise,  upon  an 
immense,  oblong  fish-pond,  with  a  straight  avenue  of  noble  trees  lead 
ing  upward  with  a  gentle  -undulation  from  its  farther  end.  At  one 
side  of  the  fish-pond  were  most  ornate  flower-gardens ;  on  the  other, 
extending  its  whole  length,  was  a  broad  flight  of  steps  with  rows  of 
broken  columns  along  them,  and  at  the  top,  little  corner  pavilions 
looking  down  over  a  miniature  barranca.  The  couple  sat  down  upon 
these  steps,  near  the  water. 

"  When  I  first  saw  all  this,"  said  Amy,  "  I  realized  the  enchanted 
gardens  of  Armida." 

In  the  fish-pond  were  six  little  formal  stone  islands,  which  served 
as  a  place  of  support  for  roses.  They  were  to  be  reached  by  boats, 
high-pooped,  green  and  gilded,  such  as  indeed  might  have  been  found 
in  the  gardens  of  Arraida.  Nor  was  all  this  too  carefully  kept ;  it 
was  treated  in  practical,  every-day  fashion  that  but  added  to  its  charm. 
Some  of  the  luscious  superabundance  of  mango  and  guava  lay  rotting 
along  the  terrace  walks,  and  appetizing  odors  coming  forth  from  the 
corner  turrets  showed  that  they,  too,  were  used  for  the  storage  of  fruit. 

Amy  had  grown  rounder  and  plumper  since  coming  to  Las  Delicias ; 
her  health  was  better  than  before,  and  she  had  probably  never  looked 
so  well  in  all  her  life  as  now.  Her  companion  was  drawn,  perhaps  by 
some  unusual  appearance  of  bloom,  to  refer  to  it. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  welcoming  the  reference  brightly,  "  I  got  old  Trini 
dad  Jose"  to  weigh  me  on  his  scales  the  other  day,  and  the  result  is, 
after  calculating  your  kilograms  into  pounds — which  is  no  easy  matter, 
— I  weigh  a  good  one  hundred  and  forty." 

"  No?  really?"  A  Spanish  girl  would  not  have  talked  to  him  like 
that.  There  was  about  her  an  entrain,  a  thorough  freedom  of  character, 
together  with  a  range  of  intelligence  to  which  he  had  never  been  used 
in  women,  that  continually  delighted  him. 

"  Oh,  dear  !  I  was  such  a  thin,  forlorn-looking  person,"  she  continued. 
"  I  had  a  cold  one  spring  I  believe  they  thought  I  would  never  recover 
from.  It  is  not  so  very  long  ago  since  my  brother  used  to  call  me  the 
Rag-baby." 

"  Rag-baby  ?     I  don't  think  I  understand." 


20  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  I  didn't  suppose  you  would.  Oh,  a  nerveless,  boneless,  limp  sort 
of  object,  don't  you  know  ?  I  used  to  wear  a  very  large  white  necktie 
in  a  bow-knot, — it  was  a  fashion  just  then, — and  my  brother  pretended 
that  my  head  was  tied  on  with  it,  and  would  fall  off  if  I  pulled  out 
the  ends." 

"  Our  Mexico  has  at  least  so  much  to  commend  it,  that  it  has  done 
all  this  for  you." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  DARK  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EARTH. 

THEY  drifted  next  in  their  talk  to  the  boorish  Jefe  Politico,  and 
then  to  a  subject  his  last  remarks  naturally  called  forth. 

"  The  air  is  full  of  such  stories,  if  you  will  listen  to  them,"  said 
Walter.  "  According  to  veracious  authorities,  our  soil  is  perfectly  sown 
with  treasure,  from  the  golden  calendar-wheels  of  Guatimoziu  down  to 
the  pesetas  of  the  latest  stage-robber.  The  .old  mines  abandoned  in  the 
wars  are  one  great  resource,  the  ruined  haciendas  another, — to  say  noth 
ing  of  the  peons,  who,  having  no  savings-banks,  are  in  the  habit  of 
burying  their  earnings  in  the  ground." 

"All  that  has  a  fascinating  sound;  but  you  speak  in  a  sceptical 
way." 

"  I  have  had  my  fair  go  at  those  elusive  hoards ;  I  will  admit  that 
Captain  Perez  and  I  have  set  out  in  search  of  more  than  one  of  them." 

"  And  you  don't  believe  they  exist  ?" 

"  Oh,  I  suppose  one  might,  after  infinite  pains,  get  a  few  beggarly 
thousands.  The  chances  are  about  as  good  as  in  playing  in  the  Havana 
lottery.  There  was  a  chance  for  Destiny  to  aid  a  person  who  very  much 
needed  it,  but  she  by  no  means  embraced  it.  I  have  aspirations,"  he 
went  on,  throwing  some  singular  inflection  into  his  tone  that  was  more 
than  humor  ;  "  I  want  an  incredible  sum  :  no  mere  ordinary  affluence 
will  do  for  me." 

"  Such  moderation  is  really  quite  astonishing." 

"  It  may  surprise  you  to  know  that  I  often  go  about  with  a  head 
full  of  unpractical  ideas.  I  want  to  go  deeper  than  the  deepest  mine. 
Look  at  the  earth  lying  below  us,  dark,  massive,  untouched  for  thou 
sands  of  miles  :  there  is  a  subject  to  strike  the  imagination.  We  have 
reached  to  the  stars  and  gone  down  into  the  sea,  why  can  we  not  go 
down  thither  ?" 

"  Yes,  it  is  impressive,  truly  :  that  dark  interior  has  often  seemed  to 
me  the  greatest  of  all  our  mysteries." 

"We  have  gone  down  perhaps  a  picayune  half-mile  at  most,  as 
against  some  four  thousand  in  all.  I  dream  of  sending  electric  currents 
along  the  mineral  veins  to  melt  out  their  contents.  I  want  to  pierce  to 
the  central  reservoirs  of  treasure.  It  is  wealth  like  that  which  I  need  ; 
less  will  hardly  suffice  me." 

Amy  was  pained  as  by  a  certain  earnestness  and  genuine  greed  in 
these  wild  and  monstrous  ideas. 

"  Why  do  you  want  so  much  money  ?"  she  asked  him. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  21 

"  To  rival  your  Vanderbilts  and  Astors,  your  great  magnates  of  New 
York/'  he  answered,  turning  it  off,  laughing. 

"But  is  there  no  way?  You  are  so  young  yet.  If  you  are  dis 
contented  here,  why  not  go  back  to  your  own  country,  where  opportu 
nities  and  a  career  naturally  await  you  ?" 

"  I  want  an  incredible  sum ;  I  will  never  go  there  without  it." 

"  You  do  not  do  yourself  justice  in  these  ideas,"  she  said,  simply. 

They  got  up  and  walked  on  to  a  spot  perhaps  the  most  quaint  and 
curious  of  all.  The  princely  founder  of  the  hacienda,  father  of  the 
present  occupant,  had  spared  no  expensive  caprice.  He  had  built  here, 
beside  a  warm  spring,  a  small  pavilion  made  of  solid  blocks  and  col 
umns  of  clear  glass.  This  coquettish  structure  was  but  the  better  for 
being  greened  and  broken  by  time. 

"  I  often  come  here  in  the  afternoon,  when  it  is  in  shade,  and  sit 
either  in  it  or  on  the  bench  beside  the  spring,"  said  Amy :  "  it  is  a 
favorite  place  of  mine." 

It  was  not  to  be  wondered  at.  The  view,  too,  had  its  peculiar 
charm  :  a  vista  had  been  cut  through  the  trees,  and  before  the  eye  was 
spread  like  a  dream  a  prospect  of  agreeable  solitude,  ending  in  the  vast, 
twin  snow-crowned  peaks. 

"  Try  it  now,  in  the  sun,"  begged  Walter ;  "  let  me  see  the  effect." 

His  companion,  amiably  complying,  mounted  into  it  and  stood  in 
the  centre.  Opalescent  and  silvery  gleams  fell  upon  her  and  enhanced 
the  brightness  of  her  hair  and  the  distinct  blue  of  her  eyes.  She  was 
like  some  priestess  of  light  in  her  temple,  or  there  was  a  mysterious 
effect  about  the  whole,  like  a  flame  burning  in  the  sunshine. 

"  The  basin  is  a  singular  one,"  said  she,  coming  down.  "  Some 
times,  as  I  sit  beside  it,  it  ebbs  or  flows  before  my  very  eyes.  I 
have  heard  them  say  its  level  can  be  affected  even  by  the  human  voice." 

"  Some  of  the  water  is  that  coming  down  from  the  hot  springs  above, 
but  it  has  much  more  than  their  singularities." 

"  I  have  not  yet  seen  those  springs." 

They  started  to  go  to  them,  when  Trinidad  Jose",  lately  detailed  to 
look  after  that  part  of  the  place,  came  along  with  a  large  dog  that  was 
much  his  companion  trotting  at  his  heels. 

"  What  is  his  name?"  asked  Amy,  stopping  as  they  passed  to  give 
the  animal  a  friendly  pat.  She  had  a  pleasant  word  for  everybody,  by 
which  she  had  gained  already  no  small  popularity  on  the  estate. 

The  man,  before  replying,  looked  cautiously  this  way  and  that,  and 
then  at  both  of  them  in  a  searching  way  that  seemed  to  reassure  him. 

"  '  Corcovedo/  "  he  answered. 

" '  Corcovedo'  ?  "  repeated  Walter  in  surprise. — "  If  you  despise  a 
man  in  this  country,"  he  explained  to  Amy,  "the  most  insulting  thing 
you  can  do  is  to  call  an  animal  after  him." 

"  I  wouldn't  want  to  have  it  known,"  said  the  gardener.  "  Do  you 
like  the  Jefe  Politico  ?"  he  asked. 

"No,  /think  him  an  odious  man,"  returned  Amy. 

"  Ah,  that  is  it,  you  don't  find  him  an  admirable  person  ?  Well,  I 
think  him  a  devil  and  the  son  of  a  devil :  that  is  why  I  call  my  dog 
after  him." 


22  THE  YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  But  such  a  nice  dog  !  it  isn't  fair  to  him." 

"  I  can't  help  it ;  it's  the  only  way  I  have.  I  just  call  him  Corcovedo 
over  to  myself  a  few  times  every  now  and  then,  and  it  does  me  a  world 
of  good.  The  old  scoundrel  don't  know  it ;  if  he  did  he'd  be  too  strong 
an  enemy  for  me." 

While  they  were  still  smiling  with  amusement  at  this  simple  way 
of  revenging  one's  self  upon  an  enemy,  the  young  brother  Angel  came 
up.  He  had  the  hobby  of  chemical  experiments  at  present,  and  he  was 
in  search  of  Don  Walter,  to  go  with  him  to  the  upper  sources  of  the 
spring,  and  help  him  find  among  the  mineral  substances,  encrusted 
about  those  waters,  some  proper  specimens  for  analysis. 

Accordingly,  they  all  went  on  together,  following  the  little  stream, 
which  smoked,  over  a  clear  bed,  among  thickets  of  luxuriant  tropical 
plants.  At  the  upper  level  nature,  as  usual;  had  been  much  supple 
mented  by  art.  The  springs  broke  out  at  the  foot  of  a  cliff  formed  of 
columns  like  those  of  Fingal's  Cave.  A  portion  of  the  upper  part  of 
the  cliff  had  been  rudely  carved  in  the  shape  of  a  human  face,  and  had 
a  balustrade  and  cypresses  on  the  top.  The  waters — hot,  cold,  and  im 
pregnated  with  various  mineral  elements — ran  out  upon  a  terrace,  with 
heavy  ramps  and  stairway,  and  were  led  along  to  a  place  where  bathing- 
tanks,  discreetly  veiled  with  charming  shrubbery,  were  arranged. 

"  Here,  indeed,  one  may  rather  appreciate  that  he  is  in  a  crater. 
This  rock  is  a  part  of  the  denuded  wreck  of  the  very  heart  and  nucleus 
of  the  old  volcano,  wind  and  weather  having  ground  all  the  rest  to  pow 
der.  It  came  up  molten  hot  in  its  time ;  that's  what  made  it  cool  off 
in  these  hexagon  columns.  You  can  find  them  of  all  sizes,  some  as  fine 
as  a  needle." 

"  And  haven't  the  hot  springs  something  to  do  with  those  same  inter 
nal  fires  ?"  inquired  Amy,  her  voice  not  quite  free  from  a  trace  of  anxiety. 

"  There  can't  be  much  doubt  of  it,  considering  the  peculiarities  they 
present.  Or  they  may  be  only  indirectly  connected  with  it  through 
those  on  a  far  greater  scale  in  the  Barranca  of  Cimarron.  The  bottom 
of  the  Barranca,  I  believe,  is  higher  than  this  point,  and  possibly  they 
work  through.  At  any  rate,  the  same  formation  belongs  to  the  two 
places ;  the  same  rent  made  in  the  mountains  when  the  Barranca  was 
formed,  tapering  off  to  an  infinitesimal  crack,  can  be  traced  over  the 
country  to  very  near  here." 

"And  you  still  persist  that  you  are  not  afraid?  It  will  probably 
not  be  in  my  time,  but  when  I  go  away  from  here  I  shall  have  to  look 
back  on  you  all  with  a  good  deal  of  misgiving." 

"  Not  I,  your  ladyship,"  he  returned.  "  It  frightens  me  very  much 
more  to  think  you  are  going  away,  even  though  the  date  be  remote." 

Angel,  who  heard  the  question,  laughed  loudly. 

In  haste  to  be  at  his  work  below,  Angel  was  gathering  his  speci 
mens — flowers  of  sulphur,  white  vitriol,  sulphide  of  arsenic,  and  what 
not — with  all  speed,  and  he  soon  left  the  others  to  themselves. 

"  You  tell  me  that  the  volcanic  lava  is  still  boiling  and  bubbling  in 
the  gorge,  that  it  is  still  an  active  crater,  as  it  were,"  said  Amy.  "  Seri 
ously  now,  it  occurs  to  me — speaking  of  treasure  as  you  were — that 
places  in  which  such  violent  turmoil  is  going  on  ought  to  be  promising. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  23 

It  seems  as  if  nature  ought  to  throw  out  there  complete  specimens  of 
everything  she  possesses  in  the  heart  of  the  earth,  including  the  most 
valuable  of  all." 

"It's  a  rather  striking  idea,  but  it  must  have  been  tried — yes, 
I'm  sure  it  has  been  tried.  My  recollection  is  that,  though  volcanic 
districts  are  rather  favorable  generally  to  the  precious  metals,  the  active 
craters  have  not  yielded  anything  of  consequence." 

"  Have  you  been  to  the  gorge  ?" 

"  No ;  and  yet  I  hardly  know  why  I  haven't,  since  I  have  often  been 
hard  put  to  it  for  excitement." 

" '  Excitement :'  are  you  sure  you  make  the  most  of  yourself?" 
asked  Amy,  taking  him  to  task.  "  Do  you  know  they  give  you  some 
thing  of  a  bad  character  ?"  she  said,  frankly, — "  consorting  with  unprin 
cipled  revolutionists,  ex-brigands,  and  the  like." 

"They  mean  Captain  Perez,  of  course,"  taking  it  quite  good-na 
turedly.  "  The  General  here  does  not  like  him  because  he  did  not  be 
long  to  the  same  political  faction.  I  can  truthfully  say  I  have  never 
seen  anything  wrong  with  Perez.  For  my  part,  I  find  no  great  differ 
ence  between  the  factions :  all  alike  are  ready  to  tear  their  country  to 
pieces  at  an  instant's  notice.  My  small  experience  with  revolutions 
has  made  me  acquainted  with  some  bold  fighters  and  good  sportsmen, 
that's  all." 

"  And  you  take  part  in  them  ?  Is  this  a  career  for  a  young  man 
who  ought  to  take  a  leading  position  ?" 

"  What  is  the  use  of  trying  under  such  a  state  of  things,  where  first 
one  ambitious  chief  upsets  the  government,  then  another  ?  There  is  no 
stability,  no  certainty.  They  promise  us  peaceful  times  at  present,  and 
that  more  railroads  are  to  be  built ;  perhaps  some  opportunities  will 
open  in  them,  but  I  think  it  will  be  long  enough  before  we  shall  see 
them,  and  they  will  hardly  furnish  places  to  all." 

"  Then  why  not  go  to  the  United  States,  I  ask  you  once  more  ?" 

"  It  takes  much  money  to  live  there  among  you  American  Croesuses." 

Such  perverse  answers  as  this  tended  to  confirm  the  account  she  had 
heard  of  him  as  an  unsettled,  improvident  person.  But  when  have 
women  required  that  those  in  whom  they  interest  themselves  should 
possess  all  the  cardinal  virtues  ? 

Seeing  a  disappointed  look  on  her  face,  Walter  added,  however,  as 
they  were  going  down,  "  It  is  for  a  purpose  worthy  of  your  approval : 
I  have  a  great  burden  resting  upon  me." 

He  was  accomplished  in  woodcraft.  In  a  season  of  leisure  he 
headed  an  expedition — in  which  all  the  children  of  the  house  were 
included — to  explore  the  woods  on  the  slopes  behind  the  hacienda. 
He  put  a  machete  in  his  belt,  the  half-sword,  half-sickle  of  the  country, 
useful  to  open  a  path,  cut  an  orange  or  coffee-stick,  or  lop  off  an  orchid, 
for  whoever  wanted  it.  He  had  the  gift,  among  others,  of  making  him 
self  agreeable  to  the  children,  and  they  enjoyed  the  day  highly.  They 
liked  to  run,  to  shriek,  to  pretend  to  be  afraid. 

"  Los  toros  !  los  toros  !"  (the  bulls)  they  would  cry,  finding  purely 
imaginary  resemblances  to  some  fierce  animal,  and  then  tear  back  madly 
to  bury  their  faces  in  the  skirts  of  Amy  or  Luz. 


24  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

Walter  pointed  out  the  mahogany-tree,  the  white  camphor,  the 
quinia-bush. 

"  It  is  like  a  growing  drug-store,"  said  Amy.  "  How  do  you  come 
to  know  so  much  about  them  all  ?  For  my  part,  I  am  surprisingly 
ignorant  of  the  country,  and  it  is  now  too  late  to  learn." 

He  did  not  tell  her  that  his  father — perpetrator  of  the  greatest 
defalcation  of  his  day,  which  had  shaken  the  money  centres  to  their 
depths — had  turned,  in  his  refuge,  to  such  pursuits,  and  made  him  the 
companion  of  all  his  walks,  implanting  thus  a  taste  which  his  later 
manner  of  life  had  served  to  confirm.  He  turned  the  question  aside  in 
some  easy  way,  as  he  often  had  occasion  to  do. 

They  grouped  themselves  for  luncheon  on  a  large  rock,  near  which 
a  cool  brook  ran  forth,  and  the  children  went  and  waded  merrily  in  the 
water,  mingling  their  laughter  with  its  babbling. 

There  was  one  place  where  broken  arrow-heads  and  fragments  of 
earthenware  remains  of  the  Aztecs  could  be  picked  up.  Amy  was  much 
pleased  to  find  these  antiquities  herself,  but  Walter  treated  them  indif 
ferently,  promising  her  better. 

"  I  beg  your  permission  to  bring  you  a  little  image  I  found  awhile 
ago  in  the  ruins  of  the  temple  at  Xochichalco,"  said  he.  "  It  is  of 
chakhihuitl,  the  green  stone  once  considered  sacred :  it  is  of  no  sort  of 
use  to  me." 

"  Xochi  ?— and  dial  ?—" 

"  The  mouths  of  some  charming  foreigners  are  too  small  to  pro 
nounce  such  long  words  all  at  once." 

"Oh,  avee  ga!  It  will  be  large  enough  to  say  something  pretty 
severe  if  you  make  such  absurd  speeches." 

On  the  very  crest  of  the  ascent  was  found  a  tall  tree,  in  the  top  of 
which  was  a  neglected  seat,  reached  by  steps,  which  was  a  lookout 
place.  There  could  be  seen  a  part  of  the  Escorial-like  roofs  of  the 
hacienda,  with  a  glint  of  statues,  and  of  waters  in  the  fertile  expanse 
spreading  out  before  it. 

Gazing  down  the  outward  slope,  you  saw  as  it  were  a  field  of  newly- 
ploughed  earth,  which  was  in  fact  a  vast  lava-field,  cutting  off  access 
to  the  mountains  on  that  side.  Very  far  away  and  high  up  was  had  a 
glimpse  of  the  white  and  splintered  wall  of  a  chasm.  One  fancied 
also  he  saw  a  film  of  steam  rising  from  it,  such  as  hovers  over  Popo 
catepetl. 

"There  is  the  Barranca  of  Cimarron,  and  of  the  traditional  Yellow 
Snake,"  said  Don  Walter,  pointing  it  out.  "  I  dare  say  those  cliffs  are 
three  thousand  feet  high." 

"  Always  the  Yellow  Snake.  Did  you  tell  me  you  had  never  been 
there?" 

"Why,  no,  not  to  penetrate  to  it.  It  is  all  but  inaccessible,  you 
know." 

"  There  is  so  little  enterprise  here  in  your  Mexico.  If  we  Ameri 
cans  had  it,  we  should  have  had  railroad  excursions  and  guides,  patent- 
medicine  signs  painted  on  the  rocks,  and  a  score  of  very  large  and 
very  bad  hotels  which  would  have  taken  most  of  our  worldly  substance 
for  the  privilege  of  seeing  all  those  wonders." 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  25 

"  But  you  forget  how  sparsely  settled  the  country  is,  and  the  diffi 
culty  of  getting  about ;  and  it  has  by  no  means  always  been  safe. 
There  are  extremely  few  persons  who  would  want  to  make  such  an 
excursion.  And  there  must  be  plenty  more  places  as  well  where  man 
has  hardly  ever  yet  set  foot." 

"  I  am  just  dying  for  adventures,"  continued  Amy,  wilfully,  "  but 
what  is  there  poor  women  can  do  ?" 

"  They  can  inspire  everything  in  men,"  returned  her  companion, 
with  a  rather  determined  air. 

"  Oh,  I  did  not  mean  that :  I  am  not  so  silly.  I  only  meant 

Well,  I  think  I  only  like  to  hear  myself  talk." 

These  were  the  days  of  which  she  wrote  to  her  friend  Emily, — 

"  I  seem  to  be  living  in  a  kind  of  heaven  upon  earth, — everything 
around  me  so  beautiful,  everybody  so  good  to  me,  that  I  appreciate  it 
with  an  over-fulness  of  the  heart,  and  all  the  sin  and  trouble  of  the 
world  apparently  removed  to  an  infinite  distance." 

Don  Walter  brought  her  the  little  green  image  of  which  he  had 
spoken.  It  made  a  pretty  ornament,  and  she  attached  it  to  her  watch- 
guard.  Soon  after  this  Don  Walter's  labors  at  the  hacienda  came  to 
an  end.  Then  he  disappeared,  and  was  neither  seen  nor  heard  from 
again  for  a  considerable  time. 


CHAPTER  V. 

"  GOLD,    THE  SUN  AMONG  METALS." 

THE  first  proceeding  of  Don  Walter  during  this  interval  of  absence 
was  to  set  off  for  his  hatiendita — or  little  hacienda — of  Cruce  Vivo. 
This  was  a  small  property  given  him  by  his  guardians,  perhaps  to  the 
end  that  he  might  be  made  more  contented  through  the  possession  of 
some  estate  of  his  own. 

His  course  lay  first  through  the  village  of  Campo  Florido,  and 
thence  by  a  detour  to  the  right — to  avoid  the  lava-beds  wrhich  consti 
tute  an  almost  impassable  obstacle  on  that  side — up  the  long,  thickly- 
wooded  slope  into  the  dominant  mountain-range. 

The  path,  in  the  early  stages,  was  crossed  by  occasional  fences, 
having  rude  gates,  which  he  managed  to  open  without  dismounting. 
A  part  of  it  was  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock.  There  were  brooks  to  be 
forded  where  the  swift  water  ran  breast-high  on  his  horse,  and  places 
to  be  climbed  and  descended  more  like  precipitous  stairways  than  a 
road.  Now  and  then  he  saw  some  mild  Indian  Daphnis  minding  cattle, 
or  a  peasant  coming  down  the  trail,  bending  low  under  heavy  burdens 
for  the  market. 

He  turned  off  to  the  right,  by  a  connecting  trail,  and  reached  his 
place  after  about  half  a  day's  journey.  He  raised  some  stock  and  coffee 
there,  it  appeared,  but  there  were  no  great  signs  of  life  about  it.  How 
ever,  it  was  not  his  intent  to  remain  ;  he  ordered  a  servant,  named 
Pablo,  to  collect  a  few  articles  he  had  need  of  and  prepare  to  accompany 
him. 

The  man  started  back  in  energetic  refusal  when  the  object  was  made 


26  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

known,  and  it  was  only  after  the  most  positive  injunctions  were  laid 
upon  him  that  he  submitted — and  then  in  only  a  sulky  way — to  go 
along. 

They  passed  through  the  little  hamlet  of  El  Jasmin,  where  a  her 
mitage  stood,  and  where  the  inhabitants  were  found  weaving  fabrics 
of  coarse  blue  stuff  and  making  red  earthenware  pottery.  Some  of  the 
jars  were  large  enough  to  have  held  Aladdin's  forty  thieves.  Then 
they  reached  Huetongo,  a  hamlet  of  much  more  gloomy  aspect,  the 
rendezvous  of  a  sparse  population  of  charcoal-burners.  Here  was 
found,  in  fact,  a  "  Caf6  and  Cantina  of  the  Yellow  Snake,"  a  dark, 
forlorn  little  interior,  with  but  few  customers  at  that  time  of  day.  It 
was  the  most  promising  place  for  negotiations,  however,  and  Don 
Walter  left  the  horses  there,  and,  with  great  difficulty,  secured  a  guide. 
A  second  was  afterwards  employed  in  addition  to  the  first,  who  pro 
fessed  to  have  no  great  confidence  in  his  ability  to  point  out  the  way, 
after  all. 

"  You  say  neither  of  you  has  ever  really  been  in  the  cafion,  and  you 
cannot  mention  a  person  who  has  actually  seen  the  Yellow  Snake  ;  then 
how  do  you  know  there  is  one  ?"  said  Walter,  arguing  in  a  scofiing  way 
with  these  men,  when  they  stated  their  apprehensions.  "  How  do  you 
know  it  isn't  a  green  dragon  or  a  blue  monkey,  instead  of  a  yellow 
snake?" 

"  No,  sefior,  it  is  a  yellow  snake,"  answered  one  of  them,  mourn 
fully. 

"  Is  it  the  centoatt,  that  shines  in  the  dark  ?  is  it  the  saltttlo,  that 
leaps  at  you  all  of  a  sudden  ?  Will  it  devour  a  man  ?  Come,  tell  us 
all  about  it." 

"  No,  seflor,"  in  a  tone  of  pained  reproach  at  this  bold  scepticism, 
"it  runs  away  before  a  man.  They  say  its  home  is  on  a  rock,  and 
whenever  it  sees  any  one  coming  it  glides  swiftly  into  a  boiling-hot 
fountain." 

"  Pretty  tough,  isn't  it,  to  stand  that !  And  now,  if  it  runs  away, 
why  are  you  afraid  of  it  ?" 

"  It  is  very  bad  luck  to  see  it,  my  Patron ;  that  is  well  known." 

"  Oh,  there  you  go  again,  always  the  same  old  story  of  bad  luck. 
Well,  I  venture  to  say  we  shall  not  have  any." 

But  with  this  he  dismissed  the  controversy,  which  was  apparently 
having  a  still  further  demoralizing  effect  on  Pablo. 

The  way  abounded  in  scenes  of  wild  grandeur.  These  grew  more 
savage  as  they  progressed,  till  the  mind  was  divided  between  admira 
tion  and  fear.  They  reached  a  certain  notable  cave,  and  paused  there 
briefly.  Though  but  a  hundred  feet  from  the  path,  it  might  have  been 
passed  undetected.  Within  it  were  an  ancient  platform  and  a  heathen 
altar  and  image.  So  noiseless,  as  it  happened,  was  their  approach  that 
they  were  not  discovered  by  a  man  within  engaged  in  worship.  He  was 
in  the  act  of  placing  a  small  piece  of  copper  money  in  the  mouth  of 
the  idol. 

"  Listen  to  what  he  says,"  said  Pablo. 

"  I  suppose  you  cannot  do  us  any  great  good ;  your  day  is  over 
now,"  the  poor  peon  was  saying  naively  to  the  god, — a  combination  of 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  27 

serpent  and  human  figure  almost  laughable  in  its  grotesqueness ;  "  but 
I'll  give  you  a  trial,  anyway ;  I  don't  want  you  to  do  me  harm." 

At  this  place  one  of  the  guides  deserted  the  expedition.  The  re 
maining  guide — watched  the  more  closely  thereafter — led  them  on  by 
thick  and  devious  paths  till  they  soon  came  to  the  long-looked- for 
chasm. 

Few  could  stand  without  an  involuntary  shrinking  on  that  dizzy 
verge.  The  Barranca  stretched  out  several  miles  in  length,  its  more 
remote  end  hidden  from  view  by  a  turn  in  its  course.  The  vast  ada 
mantine  walls  narrowed  darkly  together  at  some  points,  and  at  others 
spread  apart,  affording  a  view  of  the  bottom,  full  of  smoking  springs 
and  sul/ataras.  Portions  of  the  cliff  were  green  with  a  verdure  of 
poisonous  acids.  Some  oaks  of  a  peculiar  toughness  clung  to  the 
crannies  of  the  rocks,  and  down  on  the  slopes,  such  as  form  a  glacis  at 
the  foot  of  precipices,  could  be  seen,  scattered  sparsely,  tall  stems  of 
organ-cactus,  like  spears  of  the  gods  hurled  down  from  the  sky. 
Wreaths  of  steam  drifted  out  from  the  precipitous  sides,  and  occasion 
ally  formed  a  veil,  shutting  off  the  whole  from  sight. 

The  guide  led  up,  then  down,  in  a  very  irregular  way,  and  finally 
brought  them  to  where  the  path  ended  abruptly  on  a  ledge  with  almost 
measureless  altitude  above  and  depths  below.  There  was  absolutely  no 
possibility  of  going  further. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?"  demanded  Walter,  sternly. 

The  man,  changing  countenance,  replied,  confusedly,  "  I  have  for 
gotten." 

He  could  not  be  made  available  for  any  further  service.  They 
climbed  back  again,  and  he  escaped  like  the  other. 

But  Walter,  meantime,  had  had  a  glimpse  of  a  place,  perhaps  a 
mile  farther  on,  where  a  practised  eye,  arguing  from  continuous  vege 
tation  that  found  a  foothold  there,  might  infer  that  a  path  descended. 
Their  way  was  hewn  thither  through  the  thick  forest  growth,  and  he 
proved  to  be  right.  Over  almost  insuperable  obstacles,  they  at  length 
entered  the  valley,  strewn  with  the  wreck,  as  it  were,  of  another  world. 

The  cyclopeau  processes  of  nature,  elsewhere  discreetly  hidden,  were 
here  openly  at  work.  The  ground  smoked  from  a  hundred  fumaroles 
and  other  vents,  and  around  them  the  fragments  of  rocks — granite, 
sandstones,  limestones,  and  slate,  brought  up  by  the  resistless  force  that 
had  torn  through  them  from  the  lowest  depths — were  crumbling  in 
whitish  flakes  under  the  attack  of  powerful  escaping  gases.  A  great 
sunken  bowl — which  Walter  proceeded  to  call  at  once  La  Caldera — 
burned  luridly  with  molten  lava  in  violent  ebullition,  and  strange  lights 
appeared  in  some  crevices  of  the  side-walls,  as  if  the  cliffs  themselves 
were  on  fire  within.  The  tall  cliffs  vanished  in  long  winding  perspec 
tives,  inspiring  awe,  and  here  and  there  stood  out  from  them  vast  but 
tress-like  projections.  Across  the  blue  sky  arching  above,  often  passed 
such  billowy  masses  of  vapor  as  if  the  cafion  were  the  manufactory  of 
the  very  clouds  also. 

It  was  nightfall  when  they  reached  this  place,  and  they  encamped 
on  the  spot  where  they  found  themselves,  under  an  improvised  shelter. 
Next  morning  they  began  their  explorations.  Pablo, — a  fat  little  man 


28  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

of  no  great  character  or  stability, — finding  himself  fairly  inside  the 
gorge  and  safe  enough  thus  far,  seemed  less  disturbed  in  mind  than 
before.  They  ranged  first  down  towards  the  lower  end  of  it,  where  a 
difficult  access  could  be  had  through  a  defile  to  a  large  volcanic  lake 
without.  They  passed  a  night  there,  then  turned  back  to  the  other  end, 
the  head,  where  the  monster  crags  drew  together  and  joined  at  an  obtuse 
angle. 

They  passed  over  mounds  of  smooth  volcanic  sand,  heaps  of  scoria? 
and  ashes,  and  floods  of  solidified  lava.  Strange,  hut-like  projections 
with  openings  were  met  with  on  the  lava,  which  had  once  been  simply 
air-bubbles  in  the  tide. 

But  there  were  not  wanting  some  gay  and  pleasing  effects  also. 
Nothing  more  joyous  could  be  imagined  than  a  mammoth  warm  spring, 
in  a  circular  bowl,  they  fell  in  with  on  the  morning  of  the  second  day. 

"  Look !  look !  the  water  is  smoking  in  a  basin  of  snow !"  cried 
Pablo,  so  surprised  that  for  the  moment  he  forgot  his  misgivings. 

The  water,  warm  like  that  of  the  basin  at  Las  Delicias, — Walter's 
fancy  turned  towards  Amy  sitting  there — flowed  down  from  the  prin 
cipal  receptacle  over  a  succession  of  terraces,  each  containing  a  subsidiary 
basin.  The  whole  was  made  of  travertine,  white  as  the  purest  marble, 
formed  from  the  calcareous  deposit  of  its  own  waters. 

Don  Walter  explored  this  spot  thoroughly :  it  might  well  be  the 
home  of  some  stately  god,  and  ought  by  all  the  probabilities  to  be  the 
locality  of  "the  Yellow  Snake."  In  a  random  way  he  rolled  some 
heavy  stones  into  the  basin.  These,  perhaps  choking  the  mouth  of 
some  subterranean  vent,  produced,  as  happens  in  geysers,  a  formidable 
ebullition,  quite  out  of  proportion  to  the  cause.  But  nothing  whatever 
appeared  that  could  be  construed  as  supernatural. 

Going  on,  somewhat  after  mid-day,  he  came  to  a  curious  heap,  or 
cairn,  of  boulders,  thrown  together  as  by  Titanic  hands,  around  which 
surged  a  white  flood  of  furiously-heated  water.  The  mozo,  smitten  by 
a  nameless  panic,  would  not  approach,  and  his  master,  leaving  him, 
went  on  alone. 

The  cairn  could  not  be  reached  at  all  from  most  directions,  on  ac 
count  of  the  heat  of  the  boiling  water,  but,  searching  round  it,  he  found 
an  accessible  point  on  one  side,  where  ran  another  brook,  this  one,  strange 
to  say,  of  gelid  coolness.  He  clambered  up  to  a  sort  of  platform  whence 
he  could  overlook  all  that  was  below. 

The  shadow  sides  of  the  rocks  were  of  almost  velvety  blackness, 
but  they  were  touched  with  spots  of  vivid  light,  where  sunshine 
reflected  from  the  opposite  wall  of  the  cafion  fell  upon  them.  The 
mad-hot  torrent  disappeared  under  a  large  flat  rock,  slippery  with  the 
constant  spray,  as  if  it  had  plunged  downward  into  unfathomable 
depths. 

Walter,  tired  with  his  work,  threw  himself  down  to  rest.  He  fell 
to  musing  upon  his  labors  in  the  Barranca  and  what  he  had  expected 
to  find  there.  He  had  broken  off  specimens  of  all  the  rocks,  and  he 
had  tested  all  the  powders  and  solid  deposits  encrusted  round  the  borders 
of  the  springs,  and  had  met  with  no  success. 

His  musings  were  broken  in  upon  after  a  while — he  hardly  knew 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  29 

in  his  abstraction  how  long  a  time  had  passed — by  a  sense  as  of  some 
thing  moving  under  his  eye ;  it  was  such  a  sense  as  one  is  conscious  of 
when  an  unseen  bird  or  animal  stirs  in  the  bushes  near  by.  He  aroused 
himself  and  looked  downward  to  the  slippery  flat  rock  immediately 
below  him.  There  was  motion ;  there  was  life.  What  a  strange  ob 
ject  held  his  fascinated  gaze,  and  set  his  heart  wi  Idly  beating  ! 

A  yellow  reptilian  head  had  peeped  forth.  It  was  round,  smooth, 
and  seemed  to  have  neither  eyes  nor  mouth.  The  head  was  gently 
followed  by  a  body.  Slowly,  deliberately  it  came  forth.  Sinuous  and 
rather  slender  at  first,  it  gradually  gathered  bulk,  till  it  grew  squat 
and  broad.  When  the  whole  shape  had  emerged,  it  was  some  three 
feet  in  length. 

It  was  a  yellow  serpent  without  spot  or  speck  of  any  other  color 
upon  it. 

"  Have  I  lost  my  senses  ?"  cried  Walter.  "  Does  some  misshapen 
old  Aztec  divinity  then  really  exist  in  this  lonely  spot,  and  has  he 
chosen  to  show  himself  to  me,  the  greatest  of  sceptics?" 

Sensible,  even  while  this  confused  fancy  passed  through  his  mind, 
that  the  phenomenon  would  be  accounted  for  in  some  natural  way,  he 
could  not  free  himself  nevertheless  from  a  definite  awe  and  dread. 
Following  his  first  hasty  impulse,  he  detached  a  fragment  of  rock  to 
throw  down  upon  it. 

"  If  it  be  some  rare  specimen,"  he  went  on  in  his  cogitations,  "  why 
has  no  naturalist  made  it  the  choicest  of  his  treasures?  why  has  no 
hunter  made  it  the  most  remarkable  of  his  trophies  ?" 

His  missile  fell  with  a  crash  beside  it,  but  the  creature  did  not  stir. 
Then  he  hastily  whipped  out  his  revolver  and  fired.  Still,  whether  he 
had  hit  or  missed  it,  only  the  same  result.  No  faintest  semblance  of 
haste  or  alarm ;  the  same  slow  deliberate  gathering  motion  on  the  part 
of  the  Yellow  Snake  continued.  Finally,  steadying  his  hand  securely, 
— for  surely  his  aim  must  have  been  confused  by  the  tremors  of  his 
heart, — he  fired  once  more. 

While  he  still  watched  keenly  for  the  effect,  the  Yellow  Snake 
suddenly  swelled  to  its  utmost  bulk,  moved  rapidly  down  the  smooth 
rock,  and  shot  off  like  lightning  into  the  boiling  flood.  No  mortal 
creature  could  survive  such  a  temperature,  and  yet — the  ancient  tradi 
tion  was  on  record. 

He  hurried  down  from  his  post,  sought  a  new  coigne  of  vantage,  and 
saw  the  appearance  recommence.  Again  the  yellow  head  peeping  forth, 
again  the  sinuous  body,  again  the  thickening  and  broadening.  Had 
it  crept  back  miraculously  through  some  crevice  from  the  spring,  or 
was  this  yet  another  Yellow  Snake,  and  was  a  whole  family  of  them 
about  to  pass  before  his  eyes?  Again  it  darted  along  the  rock  and 
took  its  wild  plunge.  This  time  it  seemed  to  burst  into  a  hundred 
scintillations  as  it  touched  the  surface  of  the  spring. 

In  feverish  haste,  the  bold  explorer  laid  hold  upon  anything  at 
command  to  make  a  temporary  foot-way.  Some  small  cedars,  of  a 
tough  variety  flourishing  even  there,  made  a  principal  resource.  Con 
structing  with  his  blanket  and  some  twigs  a  sort  of  buckler  against  the 
heat,  he  passed  over  to  the  flat  rock.  He  fired  at  a  new  materialization 


30  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

of  the  form  even  as  he  went.  This  time  it  was  surely  hit,  for  some 
bright  splashes  flew  into  the  air,  as  if  its  very  life-blood  too  were 
shining  yellow. 

It  was  not  a  spot  where  one  could  stay  long,  but  fortunately  no  long 
stay  was  needed.  He  found  splashes  of  a  yellow  metal  on  the  rock, 
and  picked  up  his  flattened  bullets  thickly  encrusted  with  the  same. 
Returning,  confused  by  the  wreaths  of  steam  circling  round  him,  his 
foot  slipped,  and  it  was  little  short  of  a  miracle  that  his  toils  had  not 
ended  then  and  there. 

But  he  bore  away  the  peculiar  yellow  flakes  for  examination.  He 
established  himself  in  a  place  of  safety  by  the  cool  brook,  and  proceeded 
to  test  them  with  acid,  by  trial  of  their  weight,  and  other  convincing 
means  known  to  the  assayer.  What  did  he  find  ?  Ah,  what  indeed  ? 

The  splashes  of  metal  scattered  over  the  rock  by  his  fire,  and 
encompassing  his  bullets,  were  pure  gold.  The  Yellow  Snake  was  but 
a  molten  stream  of  the  purest  gold. 

"  Merciful  heaven  be  thanked  !"  he  cried,  in  unutterable  gratitude,  as 
this  discovery  with  all  its  far-reaching  consequences  was  borne  in  upon 
him. 

Yes,  it  was  true ;  subsequent  investigation  only  served  to  confirm  it. 
A  thin  stream  was  forced  up  by  tremendous  pressure  from  the  inmost 
depths  of  the  earth.  The  conditions  of  a  gigantic  crucible  were  present ; 
some  fierce  volcanic  heat,  perhaps,  had  come  in  contact  with  veins  of 
the  precious  ore,  tried  out  their  contents,  and  formed  a  hidden  reservoir. 
And  the  peculiar  movement  that  had  been  observed  was,  no  doubt, 
nothing  more  than  the  slow  accumulation  of  the  issue  till  it  should  have 
attained  body  enough  to  overcome  the  inequalities  of  the  rock  and 
make  the  plunge  by  its  own  momentum. 

Pablo  had  heard  the  shots,  and  now  called  out  from  a  distance  in 
alarm.  Walter  shouted  back  to  him  reassuringly,  more  afraid  to  have 
him  come  near  than  he  had  before  been  annoyed  at  his  lack  of 
co-operation.  Nevertheless,  he  did  not  speed  well  in  the  affair  alone, 
and  so  went  and  summoned  Pablo  to  his  assistance  after  all. 

"  There  is  some  sulphur  deposit  here,  of  curious  scientific  interest," 
he  said,  "  and  I  want  you  to  strengthen  the  foot- way  I  have  made  to 
yonder  slippery  rock  to  get  access  to  it." 

Pablo  worked  at  this  task  with  averted  eyes,  crossing  himself 
frequently  and  hardly  even  once  looking  at  the  place.  Finally  he 
refused  to  do  more,  and  Walter  kept  him  at  it  by  presenting  a  pistol  at 
his  head,  a  harsh  measure  no  doubt,  but  one  somewhat  excused  by  the 
circumstances.  The  man  was  of  a  sullen,  revengeful  nature,  and  con 
ceived  from  this  a  malevolent  hatred  that  was  to  have  deep  and  long- 
enduring  consequences.  He  was  next  made  to  fetch  a  quantity  of 
thick,  adhesive  clay,  of  which  a  large  supply  existed  at  no  great  distance, 
and  after  that  a  capacious  maguey  satchel  and  some  other  things  from 
among  the  baggage.  Then  he  was  effectually  got  rid  of  for  a  while  on 
pretext  of  bringing  up  part  of  the  provisions  from  the  point  where  they 
had  entered  the  cafion. 

Don  Walter,  as  if  acting  upon  keen  mechanical  intuitions,  crossed 
again  to  the  flat  rock,  exposing  himself  to  danger  in  a  daring  way,  and 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  31 

laid  a  rough  line  of  stones  and  filled  in  their  interstices  rudely  with 
clay,  smoothing  this  afterwards  from  a  distance  with  a  long  pole.  He 
thus  established  both  a  dam  which  would  check  the  metal  in  its  flow  to 
the  spring,  and  a  sort  of  conduit  to  lead  it  in  a  new  direction.  Then 
at  the  hither  side  of  the  rock,  where  the  conduit  ended,  he  fixed  the 
maguey  bag  in  a  crevice,  with  its  mouth  well  spread  open,  and  lined  the 
interior  with  a  heavy  coating  of  wet  clay. 

Soon  he  had  the  unspeakable  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  deposit 
follow  his  new  channel.  He  dragged  out  the  bag,  to  which  he  had 
attached  a  stout  rope,  plunged  it  into  the  cool  water,  and  tried  its  con 
tents.  The  result  was  of  the  same  amazing  character  as  before :  the 
whole  was  of  pure  gold. 

Pablo  returned,  and  was  sent  off  again  on  some  new  pretext.  Don 
Walter  worked  with  tremendous  diligence  at  making  a  long,  low  trough 
of  stones  and  clay,  capable  of  holding  a  large  quantity  of  the  deposit, 
and  well  hidden  from  sight.  He  also  cast  fragments  loosely  about  the 
platform,  to  give  a  more  natural  look,  in  case  any  other — "  which  a 
righteous  heaven  forbid  !"  he  murmured — should  come  to  look  upon  it 
during  his  absence. 

He  with  his  servant  crept  for  lodging,  that  night,  into  one  of  the 
hut-like  protuberances  mentioned.  He  went  back  for  a  last  look  next 
morning,  then  set  out  on  his  return  home. 

On  the  upward  climb  he  met  with  an  accident  which  caused  him  a 
slight  lameness.  The  gossips  above,  who  knew  them  for  the  men  who 
had  ventured  into  the  cafion,  shook  their  heads  sagely  over  it  as  con 
firming  the  traditions  of  bad  luck. 

"  Yes,  it's  an  exhausting,  thankless  journey,"  said  Don  Walter,  by 
no  means  desirous  to  dispute  the  impression.  "  I  would  never  advise 
anybody  else  to  take  it,  with  so  little  to  repay  the  trouble." 

Pablo,  for  his  part,  had  no  more  informing  report  to  offer.  At  the 
first  opportunity,  too,  he  left  his  master  entirely  and  sought  service  else 
where,  at  which  Don  Walter,  with  certain  new  projects  revolving  in  his 
head,  was  not  at  all  displeased. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  MOMENTOUS  TALK  IN  THE  STATELY  GARDENS. 

AMY  had  gone  to  the  town  with  Dofia  Beatriz  to  see  the  convent  to 
which  the  latter  had  once  belonged,  and  whither  the  three  nuns  liked 
to  go  sometimes  and  pray. 

The  quaint,  spacious  establishment,  uniting,  like  many  others  of  its 
class,  peculiarities  derived  from  the  Moors  with  a  florid  Renaissance 
architecture,  had  been  occupied  by  turns  as  a  warehouse  and  barracks, 
and  the  main  tower  of  its  church  was  cracked  by  an  earthquake. 

In  the  cloister  garden,  for  the  most  part  overgrown,  disorderly,  and 
even  squalid,  a  small  spot  was  cleared,  where  a  stone  seat  was  placed. 
This  was  before  a  wall  on  which,  by  some  good  fortune,  two  or  three 
fragments  of  what  had  once  been  extensive  frescos  still  remained.  The 
plastered  wall  showed  traces  of  target-practice,  or  perhaps  the  fusillade 


32  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

of  a  siege.  Some  pious  hand  had  lately  put  fresh  carnations  and  roses 
in  the  pits  left  by  the  balls  that  had  pierced  a  figure  of  Christ. 

"  Don  Walter  did  this,"  said  Dona  Beatrix,  indicating  the  improve 
ments. 

"  How,  Don  Walter  ?     Is  he,  then,  of  a  religious  turn  ?" 

"  On  the  contrary ;  or  rather,  like  his  father,  he  has  the  religion  of 
the  Americans,  which  is  different  from  ours.  He  has  even  given  me 
some  books  to  prove  that  mine  is  false." 

"  But  I  do  not  understand  why  he  takes  such  pains  here." 

"  It  was  for  our  pleasure.  I  think  he  had  heard — we  had  said  some 
thing  about  it  to  the  Sefioritas  Arroyo.  He  has  a  bold  heart  as  well  as 
a  kind  one  :  he  is  afraid  of  nothing.  We  should  not  have  dared  to  do 
it,  for  fear  of  offending  the  authorities." 

She  walked  away  to  a  little  distance,  where  there  was  a  very  thick 
tangle  of  shrubbery  near  some  old  tombs,  knelt  upon  a  slab  as  to  engage 
in  prayer,  yet  at  the  same  time  seemed  to  scan  the  vicinity  with  an  anxious 
and  furtive  eye.  Amy,  in  looking  at  her  and  the  desolation  around,  could 
not  but  think  of  the  fairy  legend  of  the  young  nun  who,  at  prayer  in  her 
garden,  paused  to  hear  a  bird  sing,  and,  on  turning,  found  everything 
about  her  decayed  and  a  hundred  years  gone  by. 

"  We  liked  it  here  because  these  pictures  are  the  only  ones  that  are 
preserved,"  said  Dofia  Beatriz,  returning,  "  and  there  are  many  old 
associations  connected  with  this  place." 

It  might  have  been  noted  that  she  liked  to  dwell  upon  Don  Walter 
and  his  doings,  and  Amy,  now  that  he  had  been  gone  a  week,  was  glad 
enough  to  have  some  one  to  converse  with  on  this  subject.  The  recluse 
asked  with  interest,  too,  after  the  little  details  of  her  daily  life  at  the 
hacienda. 

"  I  live  so  much  in  the  mad  world  I  sometimes  fear  I  shall  acquire 
a  taste  for  it,"  she  said,  deprecatingly. 

"  And  why  should  you  not  ?  Why  should  you  not  be  of  it  ?  You 
are  too  young  and  attractive  to  bury  yourself  thus,  and  you  have  no 
permanent  vows  to  bind  you." 

"  That  is  what  Don  Walter,  too,  has  told  me :  he  says  I  ought  to 
go  back  to  my  family  and  marry,"  she  rejoined,  timidly. 

Amy  was  startled ;  for  the  first  time  she  reflected  upon  the  attrac 
tion  such  a  handsome  young  man  might  not  unnaturally  have  for  the 
demure  novice,  balancing  between  the  gravest  obligations  towards  an 
unreal  world  and  the  frivolities  of  life.  But  before  she  had  time  to  go 
far  in  this  direction  she  was  yet  more  startled  by  a  sudden  question : 

"Will  you  marry  Don  Walter?" 

"  Oh,  no ;  we  are  only  good  companions,"  she  replied,  coloring  and 
embarrassed  to  the  point  of  hardly  knowing  what  answer  she  made. 

"  You  are  so  much  together,  and  you  are  so  beautiful." 

"  Don  Walter  will  marry  when  it  seems  good  to  him,  but  he  has 
need  of  much  money,  and  I  am  poor.  And,  besides,  it  is  rather  cus 
tomary  in  these  matters  to  wait  till  one  has  been  asked,"  she  concluded, 
turning  it  off  laughing. 

The  Sister  appeared  naively  convinced  by  these  confused  dis 
claimers. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  33 

" Is  it  truly  so,  captivating  as  you  are?  Your  hair  is  like  so  many 
threads  of  spun  gold." 

"No,  no;  it  is  you  that  have  lovely  hair,  Dofia  Beatriz.  How 
heavy  and  fine  it  is  !  and  dark  hair  is  far  more  attractive." 

On  the  return  home,  just  at  the  point  where  the  trail  from  the 
mountain  joined  the  road,  they  met  Walter  himself.  A  great,  glossy- 
leaved  amape-tree,  with  a  bench  of  brick  and  stone  around  its  base, 
spread  its  ample  shade  there,  and  the  street  was  not  unlike  that  of  a 
New  England  village. 

Never  before  had  Amy  seen  Walter  so  joyously  animated,  so  full 
of  a  singular  fire,  though  he  was  also  haggard  and  wan,  and  a  tired, 
sullen-looking  mozo  rode  behind  him.  He  stopped  for  but  brief  parley. 

"  I  have  been  at  the  Barranca  of  Cimarron,"  he  said,  bending  down 
from  his  saddle  towards  her  in  the  carriage,  and  not  at  once  discerning 
Beatriz,  who  was  beside  her. 

"  You  look  weary  and  careworn." 

"  It  is  nothing.  I  have  something  to  tell  you.  I  want  your — I 
want — I  will  go  to  the  hacienda  to-morrow  to  explain." 

He  had  checked  himself  at  sight  of  Beatriz,  but  she  had  seen  already 
that  burning  ardor  in  his  glance,  that  fervid  meaning  in  his  whole  man 
ner,  which  could  have  but  one  interpretation. 

"  He  thinks  much  of  you :  if  you  do  not  love  him,  be  my  friend, 
speak  to  him  of  me !"  she  exclaimed,  turning  from  red  to  pale  in  nerving 
herself  to  a  desperate  effort.  "  If  he  must  have  money,  I  can  make  him 
very  rich.  He  does  not  know  that.  Oh,  will  you  tell  him  ? '  Can  I 
trust  you  with  so  wicked  a  confession  ?  I  dare  not  look  at  you.  Can 
I  hope  you  will  aid  me  in  this  ?" 

"  It  does  not  become  a  woman  to  sue,"  replied  Amy,  with  not  a 
little  disdain. 

She  abated  her  involuntary  coldness,  however,  and  again  treated  the 
giver  of  this  impulsive  confidence  with  affection  before  their  parting. 
"  But  I  speak  in  your  own  interest,"  she  said.  "  If  it  is  to  be,  it  will 
be ;  heaven  orders  all  things  for  us  well." 

She  found  no  great  cause  for  surprise  in  what  she  had  heard ;  on 
the  contrary,  it  seemed  natural  enough ;  but  she  went  away  changed, 
embittered  somehow  towards  Walter,  herself,  and  all  the  world. 

Was  the  poor  little  recluse  insane  when  she  spoke  of  conferring 
treasures,  or  was  there  rather  some  ray  of  truth  in  the  surmises  of  the 
Jefe  Politico? 

When  Walter  came  to  see  her  he  had  almost  the  same  ardor  as  on 
the  preceding  day,  but  an  element  of  misgiving  seemed  to  have  crept 
into  it.  A  coldness,  too,  on  her  part  made  itself  felt  even  against  all 
his  impetuosity. 

"  Is  there  not  some  other  who  better  deserves  this  confidence  ?"  she 
asked  him. 

"I  do  not  quite  understand." 

"  I  have  talked  of  late  with  Dofia  Beatriz.  She  tells  me  of  your 
friendship,  of  the  profound  influence  you  have  had  upon  her  life." 

"  The  poor  little  thing  !  It  is  a  pity  to  see  her  waste  her  existence 
in  a  cloister,  still  more  in  a  mere  imitation  of  one,"  he  responded.  A 
VOL.  XLIL— 3 


34  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

certain  abstracted  air  appeared  even  in  this  reply,  and  he  seemed  about 
to  be  carried  along  by  the  overwhelming  engrossment  of  a  much  more 
important  topic. 

"  It  appears  that  she  is  very  unhappy  on  your  account.  She  has 
even  asked  me  to  intercede  for  her.  Will  you  bear  witness  that  I  have 
done  so  ?"  she  concluded,  almost  disdainfully. 

He  looked  at  her  astonished,  and  rejoined, — 

"  I  have  exchanged  but  a  very  few  words  with  her  in  all  our  acquaint 
ance.  Whatever  influence  I  may  have  exerted  upon  her  is  apart  from 
my  own  doing.  I  did  not  suppose  a  single  worldly  idea  had  ever  entered 
her  innocent  little  head." 

There  was  a  hearty  sincerity  in  this  that  carried  conviction  with  it. 

"  Oh,  how  awkward  I  have  been  !"  said  Amy,  ashamed  of  her  girlish 
conduct,  and  alarmed  for  the  inferences  he  might  naturally  draw  from 
it.  "  It  was  only  that  I  felt  a  little  hurt,  I  think,  at — at  not  having 
been  informed  of  such  an  affair,  if  it  were  so.  You  must  punish  me  by 
not  telling  me  what  you  had  in  mind  to  tell." 

"  On  the  contraiy,  I  have  come  expressly  to  offer  you  a  confidence 
I  would  not  intrust  to  any  other  human  being." 

"That  is  a  compliment  indeed.  How  shall  I  show  my  appre 
ciation  ?" 

"  I  have  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  the  ancient  mystery  and  super 
stition  :  I  have  seen  the  Yellow  Snake." 

"  Is  it  such  an  extraordinary  secret?     It  really  exists,  then ?" 

"  It  really  exists ;  and  it  is  as  different  from  what  you  may  imagine 
as  anything  can  possibly  be." 

"  I  trust  it  has  not  brought  you  the  traditional  ill  luck  ?" 

"  That  remains  to  be  seen  ;  perhaps  it  depends  upon  you." 

"  Upon  me  ?     You  do  me  great  honor." 

"  It  was  your  suggestion  that  sent  me  there,  so  honor  to  whom  honor 
is  due.  I  have  scarcely  eaten  or  slept  since  I  saw  you  last,"  he  broke 
out,  in  great  excitement.  "  What  do  you  think  the  Yellow  Snake  is  ?" 

"  How  can  I  tell  ?  Is  it  the  principal  feature  of  all  those  wonders, 
that  you  are  so  disturbed  over  it  ?" 

"  It  is  a  periodical  deposit  of  pure  molten  gold." 

"  This  from  you,  so  sceptical  of  all  treasure-stories  !"  she  exclaimed. 
"  You  used  to  consider  them  mere  fairy-tales." 

"  It  is  true.  Oh,  do  not  doubt  it.  A  kinder  fate  seems  to  have 
smiled  upon  me.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  treasure  incalculable.  See  here !" 
And  he  drew  forth  some  singular  fragments  of  yellow  metal. 

At  the  view  of  these,  some  of  his  own  excitement  was  communi 
cated  to  her.  She  gazed  upon  them  and  held  them  in  her  fair  hands 
with  fascinated  eyes.  Walter  Arroyo  began  an  account  of  all  that  had 
happened.  He  had  two  objects  in  view,  and  it  was  apparently  his  pur 
pose  to  interweave  them.  His  discovery  permitted  him  to  plan  for  a 
happiness  that  had  heretofore  been  hopelessly  beyond  his  reach. 

"  I  had  never  before  been  consumed  by  so  desperate  a  thirst  for 
fortune,"  he  said.  "  Why  do  you  think  it  was  ?"  he  asked,  pointedly. 

All  indications  seemed  to  point  to  his  answering  that  it  was  for  her 
sake ;  but  so  chagrined  was  she  by  her  recent  conduct,  and  fearful  lest 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  35 

he  should  think  her  forward,  that  she  caught  confusedly  at  every  pre 
text  for  diverting  the  conversation  from  the  subjects  that  might  have 
offered  him  his  opportunity. 

"  Come,  let  us  sit  down  by  the  spring/'  she  said.  "  Do  you  know, 
one  day  while  you  were  gone,  by  the  way,  the  basin  bubbled  and  surged 
in  a  way  it  had  never  been  known  to  do  before  ?" 

"Did  it,  indeed?"  He  was  much  struck  by  the  statement,  and, 
on  verifying  dates  and  time  of  day,  it  appeared  that  the  disturbance 
coincided  with  the  time  of  his  troubling  the  great  travertine  basin. 

"  It  establishes  the  direct  connection  between  the  Barranca  and  the 
hacienda  I  have  often  fancied,"  said  Don  Walter.  "  This  is,  indeed, 
strange.  There  will  undoubtedly  be  some  way  of  turning  it  to  account 
in  the  work  of  getting  out  the  millions  that  may  at  last  render  it  possi 
ble  for  me  to  become  a  humble  citizen  of  your  opulent  United  States." 

"  How  absurdly  you  choose  to  talk  of  your  own  country,  as  though 
everybody  there  were  rolling  in  fabulous  wealth !" 

"  All  the  women  are  not,  at  any  rate,"  she  added,  impulsively. 

"For  example?" 

Her  remark  was  evidently  not  thrown  away  upon  uninterested  ears, 
and  they  drifted,  as  people  will  in  talk,  into  a  side-issue,  which  soon, 
however,  became  as  momentous  as  the  leading  one. 

"  You  see  before  you,  without  going  any  further,  one  striking  exam 
ple.  You  may  have  thought,  from  seeing  me  here  with  people  who 
live  in  such  splendor,  that  I  had  everything  on  an  equal  footing :  did 
you  not?" 

"  Perhaps  I  had  some  such  impression." 

"  You  were  wrong.  They  tell  me  we  were  once  in  rather  fine  cir 
cumstances,  but  that  was  before  my  time.  I  have  never  known  any 
thing  but  a  trying  sort  of  poverty.  I  do  not  like  to  talk  about  my 
self;  but,  then,  I  do  not  like  to  be  the  subject  of  misconception,  either. 
Now  that  you  are  so  rich,  you  will  hardly  have  any  tolerance  for  so 
indigent  a  creature." 

"  Tell  me  all  about  it,"  he  said,  in  a  caressing  way  he  had. 

"  Our  property  was  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  had  been  universally 
respected,  and  he  appropriated  it  to  his  own  uses,  without  suspicion  being 
aroused  till  it  was  too  late." 

Her  companion  suddenly  grew  agitated  in  a  different  way,  and 
uttered  a  sort  of  exclamation. 

"  Oh,  we  were  not  the  only  ones  to  suffer,"  she  went  on,  taking  this 
for  indignation.  "  He  left  universal  wreck.  Banks,  corporations,  and 
private  fortunes  went  down  under  his  touch.  He  was  a  financial 
magnate  whom  everybody  trusted,  and  everybody  that  trusted  lost." 

"And  what  became  of  him?"  asked  Don  Walter,  as  with  difficult 
utterance.  "  What  did  he  do  with  the  money  ?" 

"  He  fled  from  the  country,  or,  some  say,  committed  suicide.  It 
was  given  out  that  he  did  not  keep  much  for  himself,  but  lost  it  all  in 
his  speculations :  I  believe  that  is  the  usual  way.  Oh,  it  was  a  very 
great  affair,  I  assure  you,  if  there's  any  comfort  in  that.  Perhaps  you 
may  have  heard  of  it  even  here.  I  sometimes  see  references  to  it  in  the 
newspapers  still  as  '  The  Great  Ridgefield  Defalcation.' " 


36  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"Good  God!  no,  not  that?" 

"What  is  the  matter?" 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  perhaps  I  have  not  heard  all  that  you  have  been 
saying.  My  brain  is  in  a  whirl  with  this  new  discovery.  They  say 
men  often  go  mad  in  such  events  as  this.  Do  not  let  me  go  mad  !  I 
have  come  to  you  for  aid." 

"  Tell  me  what  I  can  do,"  she  demanded,  alarmed  at  his  gloomy 
change  of  manner,  and  desiring  to  soothe  him.  He  moved  about  really 
in  quite  a  mad  way. 

"  Where  a  man's  treasure  is,  there  his  heart  is  also,"  he  said.  "  I 
am  always  thinking  the  supply  may  give  out.  I  do  not  know  why 
that  did  not  occur  to  me  at  first." 

"  Oh,  I  hope  not,  I  hope  not.     Let  us  not  think  it  can." 

"  The  next  thing  to  do  is  to  arrange  the  best  course  for  securing  this 
treasure,  such  as  it  may  prove  to  be." 

"  What  will  you  do?"  The  rdle  of  Amy,  with  her  small  experi 
ence,  was  evidently  to  be  hardly  more  than  a  listener  in  the  discussion. 

"  There  are  three  plans.  The  first  is  to  acquire  title  to  the  place, 
and  regularly  work  it  as  a  mine.  It  would  not  be  safe,  under  our  va 
rious  distracted  governments,  to  do  this.  The  second  is  to  associate  a 
number  of  influential  people  in  the  enterprise,  pledge  them  to  secrecy, 
and  under  their  protection  secure  as  much  of  the  valuable  deposit  as 
possible.  But,  naturally,  I  do  not  wish  to  share  it ;  and  so  nervous 
and  distrustful  of  human  nature  have  I  become  that  I  cannot  think  of 
even  a  single  person  whom  I  would  want  to  help  me  in  the  matter." 

"  Not  even  your  friend  Perez,  whom  you  esteem  so  highly  ?  Surely 
here  is  a  case  where  his  peculiar  characteristics  ought  to  find  exactly  the 
right  field." 

"  I  do  not  admit  that  I  believe  anything  bad  of  him,  but  I  have 
not  quite  got  up  the  necessary  confidence  even  in  his  case.  Captain 
Perez  is  my  peculiar  property,  you  see :  I  allow  no  one  either  to  defend 
or  abuse  him  without  contradiction." 

"  And  your  third  plan  is ?" 

"  To  go  alone  into  the  Barranca  and  collect  the  deposit,  and  convey 
it  out  piecemeal  as  best  I  can.  It  is  the  one  upon  which  I  had  deter 
mined  in  my  own  mind.  My  irregular  way  of  life  will  give  me  a  cer 
tain  advantage  in  passing  back  and  forth  without  suspicion." 

"But  if  you  are  discovered?" 

"  It  is  one  of  the  chances  of  war.  I  trust  I  can  easily  hide  the 
source  of  the  treasure,  and  I  will  account  for  my  own  presence  there 
by  pretending  to  search  for  peculiar  chemical  deposits  or  fertilizers  for 
my  haciendita." 

"  There  is  one  thing  I  have  been  thinking  of  from  the  first,"  said 
Amy.  "  If  this  supply  has  been  going  on  for  a  long  time,  as  the  exist 
ence  of  the  tradition  would  indicate,  there  must  be  somewhere  an  im 
mense  accumulation  of  the  deposit,  in  comparison  with  which  the  present 
product  is  a  mere  nothing." 

"All  that  must  come  later.  Yes,  that  is  something  that  at  once 
occurs  to  mind.  But  the  quantity  that  falls  into  the  stream  at  present 
seems  to  disappear  in  the  very  bowels  of  the  earth,  as  no  doubt  has  all 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  37 

before  it.  To  reach  such  an  accumulation  would  be  like  moving  moun 
tains  or  disrupting  the  very  Barranca  itself.  It  could  not  be  done 
secretly,  and  it  is  beyond  the  strength  of  a  single  person." 

"  Yes,  yes ;  I  see  well  it  is." 

"  Besides,  the  problem  is  whether  it  has  flowed  continuously,  or 
only  made  a  rare  appearance  from  time  to  time.  My  heart  is  in  my 
mouth  when  I  reflect  that  the  latter  is  most  probable,  and  that  it  may 
stop  at  any  moment." 

"  How  do  you  account  now  for  the  tradition  of  bad  luck  attached 
to  it,  when  it  really  is  so  lucky  a  thing  ?" 

"  Only  by  supposing  it  was  the  interest  of  some  one  to  conceal  it, 
and  the  superstition  has  been  kept  up  by  the  ignorance  and  apathy  of  a 
race  that  has  changed  very  little  even  in  a  couple  of  hundred  years.  It 
was  in  ecclesiastical  hands,  and  connected  no  doubt  with  the  worship  of 
the  idols  in  the  caves  above,  and  the  ancient  priests  thought  it  wise  to 
keep  so  good  a  thing  to  themselves." 

Was  it  uneasiness  arising  from  the  cause  indicated  that  had  thrown 
him  into  the  deep  depression  by  which  his  elation  seemed  succeeded  ? 
Amy  asked  herself.  She  marvelled  silently  at  the  change  that  had 
come  over  him.  He  had  been  tender  and  lover-like;  he  had  even 
taken  her  hand,  and  she  could  hardly  find  it  in  her  heart  to  withdraw 
it,  lingeringly,  there  had  been  something  so  benumbing  and  dreamy 
in  the  contact. 

"  When  I  made  my  good  luck  dependent  upon  you,"  he  said,  as  if 
feeling  that  explanation  was  demanded,  "  I  meant  I  needed  some  one 
to  unburden  myself  to,  some  one  who  should  know  of  my  whereabouts. 
In  you  alone  I  am  not  afraid  to  confide.  You  are  good,  true,  wise,  and 
capable  of  keeping  counsel.  I  felt  that  with  you  to  aid,  I  should  be 
fortunate  indeed." 

"  No,  no,"  his  hearer  protested ;  "  I  am  frivolous  and  shallow. 
You  are  mistaken  :  I  have  none  of  those  fine  qualities." 

Walter  Arroyo  smiled  sadly,  and,  with  this,  went  away  from  the 
Eden  that  had  seemed  so  near  realization,  to  carry  his  new  plan  into 
eifect. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HOW  DON  WALTER  ARROYO  SET  OUT  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

HE  began  at  once  a  series  of  furtive  excursions  to  the  Barranca, 
finding  many  different  ways  of  getting  there.  At  one  time  he  would 
go  by  way  of  Campo  Florido,  as  if  setting  out  simply  for  Crnce  Vivo ; 
again  he  started  up  from  the  other  side  of  Las  Delicias,  and  succeeded 
in  picking  a  path  over  the  almost  insuperable  lava-beds ;  and  sometimes 
he  would  fetch  a  compass  even  as  far  away  as  Bio  Frio,  a  large  town  in 
another  district,  where  he  pretended  to  sell  some  of  his  horses  or  mules. 
From  Bio  Frio  he  got  access  to  the  gorge  by  way  of  Lake  Jornada,  a 
body  of  water  some  fifteen  miles  in  its  longest  dimension.  There  was 
a  settlement  at  its  lower  end,  with  a  rude  glass- factory.  The  end  near 
the  Barranca  was  entirely  desolate,  frequented  only  by  a  few  lonely 


38  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

alkali-gatherers,  who  collected  the  alkali  to  be  sold  to  the  glass-factory 
aforesaid. 

In  this  new  way  of  life  he  had  to  shun  Perez  as  well  as  others,  so 
that  at  last  the  worthy  captain  was  piqued  at  the  rebuffs  he  met  with. 

"  The  fact  is,"  said  Walter,  "  my  guardians  are  a  little  dissatisfied 
with  our  friendship.  You  know  how  it  is :  we  have  spoken  of  it 
before.  Women  will  get  whims  into  their  heads.  Let  each  go  his 
way  separately  a  little  while.  The  notion  will  not  last  long,  and  it 
will  be  all  for  the  better  for  us  when  it  is  over." 

The  same  circumspection  was  used  by  Walter  in  disposing  of  the 
product  he  collected  in  his  watchings.  A  part  of  the  metal  he  con 
cealed  in  the  gorge  itself,  part  of  it  became  a  growing  hoard  at  Grace 
Vivo,  and  another  part  still,  at  his  home  with  the  unsuspecting  Arroyo 
ladies  ;  and,  finally,  one  more  repository  was  established  at  a  lonely  spot 
on  the  alkali- whitened  shores  of  Lake  Jornada. 

During  this  time  no  words  of  more  than  merely  friendly  import 
passed  between  the  pair  who  should  have  been  lovers.  Walter  did  not 
return  to  that  mood  the  meaning  of  which  had  seemed  hardly  equivocal. 

"  Ah,  well,"  reflected  Amy,  "  I  am  the  sole  confidante  of  his  secret. 
I  am  his  copartner  in  so  great  and  hazardous  an  enterprise.  Ought  not 
that  to  be  enough  for  the  present?  When  this  is  over,  who  can  there 
be  to  whom  he  will  owe  more  gratitude  than  to  myself?  When  it  is 
all  over,  who  knows?  Perhaps — perhaps." 

It  was  agreed  between  them  that  whenever  Walter  was  absent  he 
should  every  day  at  a  certain  hour  trouble  the  waters  of  the  travertine 
basin,  that  the  effect  might  appear  in  the  spring  at  Las  Delicias.  The 
actual  existence  of  such  a  connection  had  been  established  by  sufficient 
trials,  and  Amy  went  as  often  as  possible — she  could  not  do  so  quite 
without  fail — to  see  her  basin  thus  strangely  surge  and  splash.  This 
singular  means  of  communication,  rude  as  it  was,  was  a  source  of  much 
reassurance  to  her.  By  it  she  could  at  least  tell  his  whereabouts,  assume 
that  he  was  well,  and  be  sure  he  thought  of  her.  "  Why,"  she  often 
sighed,  "  can  I  not  send  a  message  to  him  also  ?" 

The  golden  flow,  according  to  the  best  estimates  to  be  made,  was 
producing  every  day  many  thousand  dollars,  but  neither  of  them  could 
realize  this  as  solid  and  tangible  value.  It  seemed  rather  some  game 
of  splendid  dreams  and  figures  purely  mythical  at  which  they  were 
playing. 

At  last  Walter  came  and  mooted  a  wholly  new  plan. 

"  I  am  overpowered  with  uneasiness ;  I  do  not  have  one  moment's 
peace,"  he  said.  "  When  I  am  away  from  the  Barranca  I  am  con 
stantly  tortured  by  the  fear  that  the  flow  has  stopped,  that  somebody 
else  has  got  access  to  it,  that  I  am  not  doing  the  utmost  to  secure  it,  or 
that  I  have  been  or  shall  be  followed  in  going  in  or  out." 

It  was  but  too  evident  in  his  looks  how  mental  turmoil  and  bodily 
labor  were  wearing  him  out. 

"  The  last  time  I  went  up  by  El  Jasmin  I  met  our  Seflor  Jefe  Po 
litico,  with  two  evil-looking  atguazils  of  office  behind  him.  That  coun 
try  is  all  in  his  district,  of  course,  and  he  has  a  perfect  right  to  be  there, 
and  he  is  probably  not  spying  after  my  movements,  but  it  gives  me  a 


TEE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  39 

nervous  feeling  all  the  same.  I  must  end  this.  I  must  go  to  the 
Barranca,  and  stay  there  till  the  work  is  done." 

"  Alone  in  that  dismal  place?  It  would  be  too  dreadful !  Suppose 
you  should  be  sick  ?" 

11 A  la  guerre  comme  a  la  guerre  !"  he  responded  as  before  :  "  that  is 
one  of  the  least  considerations  when  there  are  so  many  more  important 
things  to  think  about.  If  anything  should  happen  now  by  my  fault 
when  only  these  few  poor  thousands  have  been  realized, — a  mere  drop 
in  the  bucket  to  the  sum  I  must  have, — with  what  bitter  regrets  I 
should  be  overcome !" 

"  But  how  will  your  absence  be  accounted  for  ?  how  long  will  it 
be?  what  if  you  should  meet  with  any  accident?"  expostulated  Amy, 
in  pain,  a  thousand  obstacles  and  dangers  rising  before  her  fancy. 

"  I  must  appear  to  go  to  the  United  States  for  a  visit ;  that  will 
divert  attention  from  me  entirely,  and  I  may  then  do  as  I  please  in  my 
retreat.  But  letters  would  naturally  be  expected  from  me.  Will  you 
help  me  in  this  also,  or  have  I  exhausted  the  measure  of  your  aid?'7 

"  You  have  not  yet  even  begun  to  draw  upon  it." 

"  Suspicion  will  thus  be  allayed,  and  without  them  it  would  be  cer 
tain  to  arise,  to  say  nothing  of  its  being  a  civil  thing  to  do.  Let  us  say 
a  letter  once  in  three  weeks ;  that  will  answer  for  my  good  au-nts.  I 
can  plead  being  extremely  busy,  you  know.  Other  people  will  hear  of 
me  through  the  postmaster." 

"  You  speak  of  being  gone  for  so  long  a  time !"  exclaimed  Amy, 
dismayed  at  the  prospect  he  opened  before  her. 

"  I  can  estimate  it  almost  exactly,  if  the  luck  holds  good,  allowing 
of  course  a  liberal  margin  for  contingencies.  I  have  never  given  you 
more  than  the  merest  inkling  of  a  burden  and  obligation  that  rests  upon 
me,  and  I  am  not  now  prepared — it  is  not  best — to  do  so.  But  of  this 
I  assure  you,  by  whatever  force  you  may  attach  to  a  solemn  assertion 
of  mine,  that  the  object  is  a  most  worthy  and  honorable  one.  It  is  one 
that  you  may  well  feel  glad  and  even  proud  to  have  assisted." 

Amy  recollected  with  sympathy  the  hint  he  had  once  let  fall  of  an 
adequate  cause  for  his  recklessness,  and  her  heart  smote  her  at  the  in 
justice  she  had  more  than  once  done  him  in  thinking  him  possessed  of 
mercenary  greed. 

"  The  sum  is  a  great  one,"  he  continued,  "  but  till  the  last  cent  of 
it  is  realized  I  must  hold  it  as  a  sacred  trust :  before  heaven !  I  seek 
no  advantage  of  my  own." 

He  named  it. 

"  Millions  ?"  cried  Amy,  aghast ;  "  how  can  they  ever  be  realized  ?" 
Still,  in  her  heart  she  felt  reassured,  for  had  he  not  on  a  former  occasion 
demanded  the  entire  contents  of  the  heart  of  the  earth  ? 

"  There  are  two  things  to  be  done,"  said  Walter.  "  In  the  first 
place,  will  you  give  me  a  few  points  about  New  York, — the  hotel  at 
which  I  may  be  supposed  to  stop,  for  instance,  and  the  theatres,  palaces, 
noble  monuments,  and  galleries  of  pictures  and  sculpture  I  may  see? — 
so  that  I  can  write  as  if  I  were  actually  there." 

"  Alas !  our  poor  noble  monuments  and  galleries  of  sculpture ! 
However,  I  will  put  our  best  foot  foremost." 


40  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  In  the  second  place,  will  you  be  capable  of  so  much  duplicity  as 
to  find  some  one  in  New  York  to  receive  the  letters  and  remail  them 
from  there?" 

"  It  is  in  a  good  cause,  and  I  undertake  it." 

She  sent  one,  in  fact,  to  her  friend  Miss  Winchester,  another  to  her 
family,  and  another  again  to  Miss  Winchester,  explaining  it  in  each 
instance  as  a  joke,  the  key  to  which  they  should  have  later. 

The  composition  of  the  first  letter  was  entered  upon  at  once,  and  so 
much  amusement  was  caused  by  mistakes  arising  out  of  Walter's  pre 
conceived  ideas  of  things  in  the  United  States  that  a  humorous  light 
was  cast,  for  the  time  being,  over  the  sadness  of  parting.  It  was  pro 
posed  that  Amy  should  prepare  for  him  after  each  letter  a  few  particu 
lars,  to  give  a  sort  of  contemporaneousness  to  the  next,  and  he  was  to 
endeavor  to  steal  out,  in  disguise,  once  a  month,  to  get  these  notes, 
and  leave  his  letter  and  also  one  with  some  account  of  his  own  doings. 

"  Where  shall  we  put  the  letters  ?"  asked  Amy. 

"  You  know  the  cross  set  up  at  the  spot  where  the  English  governess 
was  killed  by  lightning  :  that  is  an  excellent  place.  A  natural,  easy 
path  goes  by  it,  and  there  is  a  short  cut  across  the  fields  to  Campo  Flo- 
rido.  You  can  easily  make  an  excuse  for  going  there.  A  number  of 
earthen  pitchers  are  hung  to  the  cross  by  leathern  thongs,  and  it  is 
always  in  order  to  fill  them  with  flowers.  The  letters  must  be  put  in 
one  of  these  and  well  covered  with  leaves." 

Don  Walter  had  already  sounded  his  guardians  on  the  subject  of  a 
voyage  to  the  United  States,  and  when  he  finally  announced  his  deter 
mination  to  go  they  were  not  too  much  astonished.  They  thought  it 
might  not  be  a  bad  thing  for  him  to  see  a  little  more  of  the  world  : 
perhaps  he  would  settle  down  more  contentedly  at  home  on  his  return. 
He  had  no  desire  to  hunt  up  his  relations  in  New  York,  but  he  made 
this  an  occasion  for  finding  out  as  much  as  possible  about  them.  The 
Sefioritas  Arroyo,  in  fact,  knew  but  little.  They  were  distantly  re 
lated  to  his  mother,  and  it  was  through  this  fact  that  their  adopting 
him  had  come  about ;  but  his  mother  was  dead  before  his  father  had 
brought  him  to  Mexico,  and  nearly  all  the  rest  was  befogged  and  lost 
in  the  non-intercourse  the  odium  of  disgrace  had  occasioned. 

The  kind  spinsters  made  a  pleasant  reunion  for  him  at  their  house 
to  bid  him  God-speed.  He  was  of  so  essentially  frank  a  nature  that  he 
could  with  difficulty  carry  off"  the  imposition.  Amy  was  there,  and  at 
the  moment  of  farewell  his  eyes  gazed  long  and  lingeringly  into  hers, 
while  her  own  were  veiled  and  swimming  with  tears. 

"  If  you  do  not  come  back,"  she  suggested. 

"  Yes,  the  worst  side  also  ought  to  be  thought  of,  it  is  true.  Why, 
then — then  go  to  Perez  and  tell  him  about  it.  But  that  is  to  be  only 
a  last  resort;  give  plenty  of  time." 

Then  he  set  out  on  horseback,  by  a  long  journey,  to  take  the  rail 
way  for  Vera  Cruz.  It  was  his  plan,  he  said,  to  visit  some  neglected 
business  correspondents  on  the  way..  He  meant  to  dispose  of  his  horse 
at  Puebla  to  pay  part  of  the  expense  of  his  voyage. 

Some  of  his  young  acquaintances  accompanied  him  part  of  the  way 
on  his  road  in  lively  fashion.  After  leaving  them,  he  went  on  with  a 


THE   FELLOW  SNAKE.  41 

single  servant,  who  carried  his  baggage.  On  the  second  day  he  insisted 
that  the  horse  this  mozo  rode  was  lame  and  looked  badly. 

"  I  would  not  for  anything  that  so  good  an  animal  should  be  per 
manently  disabled,"  he  said.  "  Give  me  here  the  baggage  on  my  own 
horse," — he  had  purposely  made  it  very  light, — "  and  you  go  back  :  I 
shall  get  on  perfectly  well  by  myself." 

The  man  hesitated  in  surprise,  but  the  order  was  peremptory,  and  he 
went  back.  When  the  Sefioritas  Arroyo  heard  of  it  they  said,  "  It  is 
exactly  like  his  warm  heart,  considerate  both  of  beast  and  man." 

As  soon  as  the  servant  had  disappeared  up  the  road,  Don  Walter 
plunged  into  the  woods.  There  was  no  one  in  sight  in  either  direction 
to  observe  this  unusual  proceeding.  Within  an  hour  afterwards  he  re 
appeared  as  a  peon,  of  the  usual  copper-colored  skin  and  in  the  cotton 
shirt  and  drawers  of  the  class.  He  emerged  from  the  woods  near  the 
same  spot  and  took  the  road  back  towards  Cuernavaca.  The  animal 
he  rode  was  also  considerably  changed  in  appearance,  and  seemed  to 
have  been  a  victim  of  wanton  neglect. 

He  passed  the  night  at  the  same  meson  with  his  own  servant,  who 
was  dallying  on  the  road.  He  set  out  much  earlier  in  the  morning  than 
the  latter.  When  he  reached  a  but-little-used  trail,  penetrating  his  own 
mountain-district,  he  struck  off  into  it.  A  wild  babbling  brook  ran 
down  the  same  course,  disputing  the  right  of  way.  When  he  had  gone 
a  certain  distance  he  dismounted,  took  off  the  more  necessary  articles, 
and  with  a  sad  but  resolved  air  led  his  horse  into  a  thicket.  The  poor 
animal  seemed  to  have  a  sense  of  the  fate  that  was  impending.  He  trem 
bled  and  drew  back,  and  when  the  revolver  was  aimed  that,  as  a  pre 
cautionary  measure,  should  have  put  an  end  to  his  existence,  he  made  so 
resistless  a  bound  that  he  escaped  to  the  bed  of  the  brook.  Don  Walter 
scrambled  after  him  over  the  rough  stones,  but  pursuit  was  useless. 

"  Go,  then,  in  heaven's  name.  I  am  glad  I  did  not  do  it,"  he 
breathed  aloud,  rejoicing  in  the  chance  that  had  stayed  his  hand  from  a 
cruelty  so  repulsive,  even  with  all  the  danger  of  detection  involved. 

Then  he  shouldered  his  effects  in  a  bag,  peasant-fashion,  went  on 
on  foot,  and  disappeared.  Surely  his  acquaintance  would  have  thought 
this  an  extraordinary  way  in  which  to  start  for  the  United  States. 

After  Don  Walter  had  gone,  Amy  Colebrook  felt  far  more  than  be 
fore  the  seriousness  of  her  position.  It  was  a  weighty  responsibility 
indeed  for  her,  an  inexperienced  little  American  girl,  to  be  down  there 
in  the  far-off  wilds  of  Mexico,  the  confidante  of  a  secret  of  life  and 
death  and  a  monstrous  treasure  with  all  its  far-reaching  interests.  At 
times  it  seemed  too  formidable  to  bear,  and  she  had  to  struggle  not  to 
betray  her  preoccupation  to  those  about  her.  Nor  was  it  of  one  sort 
only.  Looking  at  the  prospect  of  success  from  the  hopeful  stand-point, 
she  would  say, — 

"  When  he  is  very  rich  he  will  have  other  interests,  other  friends, 
and  then — ah  me !" 

If  she  had  been  fond  of  him  before,  her  affection  took  a  far  greater 
intensity  now  that  he  was  away,  engaged  in  his  arduous  struggle  with 
the  powers  of  nature  in  the  lonely  canon.  She  often  dreamed  of  him, 
fancying  she  looked  down  upon  him  from  the  towering  walls  and  saw 


42  TEE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

him  there,  a  small,  sun-scorched  and  storm-beaten  figure  amid  the  vast 
surroundings. 

Soon  a  startling  episode  happened.  Don  Walter's  horse  made  his  way 
back  to  the  haciendita,  and  was  recognized  there  by  an  old  servant  who 
staked  his  veracity  upon  it,  since  he  had  had  something  to  do  with  raising 
the  colt.  The  report  went  out  that  Don  Walter  had  been  murdered. 
This  again — in  the  mountain-region — was  laid  to  his  ill  luck  in  having 
seen  the  Yellow  Snake,  and  tended  to  keep  people  away  from  the  gorge 
more  than  ever.  The  mozo  who  had  accompanied  him  towards  Puebla 
was  put  under  arrest.  The  Jefe  Politico,  who  personally  would  not 
have  greatly  mourned  the  loss  of  a  forward  young  man  given  to  laugh 
ing  at  him,  was  nevertheless  stirred  up  by  the  frequent  fainting-fits  of 
the  Arroyo  ladies  to  do  something.  Captain  Perez  too  was  on  the  war 
path.  Amy  was  full  of  consternation,  not  because  she  believed  Don 
Walter  had  come  to  harm,  but  lest  this  excitement  should  cause  his 
discovery. 

She  thought,  in  a  helpless  way,  of  appealing  to  Captain  Perez  to 
stop  the  hue  and  cry,  as  if  this  would  not  have  been  equally  fatal. 

In  the  midst  of  it  came  a  letter  from  Walter,  apparently,  safely 
arrived  in  New  York.  The  old  servant  was  discredited :'  the  Misses 
Arroyo  recovered  from  their  fainting-turns.  Amy  had  a  guilty  feeling 
when  they  told  her  about  Walter's  travels.  He  wrote  a  most  interest 
ing  letter,  they  said ;  he  described  Broadway,  Central  Park,  and  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge  so  that  it  was  almost  like  being  there ;  but  the  excite 
ment  and  fatigue  of  exploring  a  foreign  country  were  great,  and  he  would 
not  have  time  to  write  often. 

At  the  appointed  time,  she  left  her  communication  for  Walter  as 
they  had  agreed.  She  watched,  and  found  it  soon  replaced  by  one  from 
him,  a  sort  of  journal  of  some  of  his  doings  in  the  Barranca.  What 
a  mysterious  feeling  it  gave  her  to  think  he  had  been  so  near  her  in 
disguise!  it  was  like  the  visitation  of  a  spirit.  The  second  month 
he  did  not  come  at  all :  no  doubt  the  risk  was  too  great.  But  the 
troubling  of  the  spring  still  continued. 

Then  all  at  once,  after  a  while,  the  spring  was  not  troubled.  A 
second  day  this  concerted  signal  was  lacking,  a  third,  a  fourth,  a  fifth, 
a  sixth, — for  eight  days  the  waters  gave  no  sign  of  disturbance.  Amy 
was  in  an  agony  of  fear. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

IN  THE  BAKBANCA  OF  CIMABBON. 

DON  WALTER  utilized  a  bright  night  of  the  tropics  for  his  final 
march  to  the  cafion.  A  radiant  moonlight  still  whitened  all  its  strange 
features  when,  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning,  he  arrived  there. 

He  had  already  conveyed  thither  many  things  that  would  be  useful 
to  him,  and  his  first  care  was  to  make  something  like  a  permanent  home 
in  one  of  the  lava  huts  he  had  used  temporarily.  These  were  in  reality 
a  kind  of  rude  glass,  the  eifect  of  imprisoned  steam  forcing  its  way 
through  the  vitreous  mass.  They  varied  in  size  from  a  bee-hive  to  a 


THE    YELLOW  SNAKE.  43 

cottage.  Many  were  of  snow-white  pumice,  and  they  looked  like  tents, 
from  his  door-way. 

He  took  up  his  own  abode  in  an  inconspicuous,  mud-colored  one, 
near  the  place  where  the  treasure  flowed  forth,  yet  not  so  near  as  to 
establish  any  direct  connection  with  it.  It  needed  only  an  enlargement 
of  the  natural  opening  near  the  bottom,  and  the  cutting  out  of  a  port 
hole-like  window  or  two,  to  make  it  habitable.  He  spread  some  petates 
— mats  of  the  maguey  fibre — on  the  floor,  and  constructed  a  rude  table 
and  shelves  for  his  scientific  apparatus.  Then,  finding  it  gloomy,  as  he 
lay  on  his  camp-bed,  to  gaze  up  into  the  Cimmerian  darkness  in  the 
top  of  the  tall  cone,  he  made  an  opening  for  light  there  also,  and  later 
placed  a  ceiling,  which  divided  the  hut  into  two  stories.  Then  he 
fitted  rustic  gratings  to  his  door  and  windows,  to  keep  out  wild  birds, 
or  perchance  even  wild  beasts,  at  night. 

He  had  a  natural  taste  for  the  ornamental,  with  all  his  masculine 
habits,  and  when  this  was  done  he  set  some  plants  in  his  window- 
openings,  so  that  there  was  a  certain  hardy  air  of  comfort  about  it. 
Just  .as  the  edelweiss  is  found  in  Alpine  snows,  so  he  brought  back 
from  his  explorations  small  flowers — symbols,  perhaps,  of  headstrong 
passion — that  throve  as  close  as  possible  to  the  burning  heats. 

But  he  did  not  complete  this  work  of  installing  himself  till  he  had 
put  the  signal  of  communication  with  Amy  upon  a  more  stable  footing. 

"  It  had  been  my  habit,"  he  said  in  his  journal,  "  to  throw  into  the 
basin  large  stones  and  pieces  of  stalagmite  broken  oif  around  its  own 
borders.  These  anger  it  and  thus  cause  a  disturbance  in  some  central 
chamber  that  finally  reaches  to  you.  But  the  ebullition  seemed  daily 
to  decrease,  and  I  feared  there  might  be  danger  of  choking  up  the  tube 
and  putting  an  end  to  it  altogether.  So  I  cast  about  for  some  less 
hurtful  means,  and  found  it  by  rigging  up  a  long  beam  rested  on  a 
fulcrum,  and  with  another  short,  heavily-weighted  beam,  hung  on  like 
a  flail  at  one  end."  The  sketch  he  drew  of  this  device  showed  it  not 
unlike  an  old-fashioned  well-sweep  of  rural  New  England.  "  I  can  let 
down  this  flail  end  into  the  water,  and  stir  up  a  more  or  less  furious 
protest  as  I  wish,  and  then  move  it  away  again,  to  await  the  next 
occasion." 

While  the  strange,  dumb  messages  were  going,  he  sat  on  the  steps 
of  the  travertine  terrace,  dreaming  of  her  to  whom  they  were  sent, — 
having  but  scant  leisure  for  dreaming  at  other  times.  He  thought  good 
to  occupy  a  hut  at  this  place  also  as  a  sort  of  spring-house.  Indeed, 
he  ultimately  removed  most  of  his  apparatus  here,  and  made  it  the 
head-quarters  for  his  analyses  of  the  abundant  material  found  in  his 
researches.  In  addition  to  the  other  pretexts  in  mind,  he  might  aifect, 
in  case  of  discovery,  to  be  taking  baths  for  rheumatism,  or  to  be  a  rapt 
devotee  of  science.  They  would  set  him  down  for  a  visionary,  or  even 
a  lunatic,  but  this  would  only  the  better  withdraw  attention  from  the 
vital  interest  at  stake. 

"  When  other  needed  preliminaries  were  accomplished,"  he  wrote, 
"  I  had  to  inaugurate  extensive  improvements  in  my  way  of  gathering 
and  protecting  the  deposit.  I  felled  some  trees,  where  the  lower  margin 
of  the  forest  encroaches  on  the  cafion,  slid  them  down,  and  drew  them 


44  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

along  on  a  kind  of  sled.  My  idea  was  to  erect  an  efficient  barrier 
against  the  searching  heat  and  deleterious  fumes  from  the  boiling  stream, 
one  behind  which  I  might  have  secure  access  to  the  golden  spring.  I 
therefore  made  two  very  large,  heavy  frames  of  wood.  I  nailed  cross- 
pieces  upon  these,  and  smaller  pieces  again  crossing  the  first.  Then  I 
bethought  me  what  material,  strong  enough  for  the  ordeal  it  would 
have  to  endure,  would  be  suitable  for  filling  the  interstices. 

"  In  making  my  way  along  a  ledge  at  the  top  of  the  lower  slope  of 
talus,  I  came  upon  a  strange  substance,  in  strata  white,  reddish,  or  green, 
embedded  amid  serpentine  rock  and  soapstone.  It  was  apparently  a 
mineral,  and  yet  it  was  soft,  even  silky,  to  the  touch,  and  elastic  and 
pliable  as  any  vegetable  fibres.  Surely  this  was  the  far-famed  asbestos, 
a  material  indestructible  even  by  the  fiercest  heat  or  flame.  Nothing 
could  have  been  more  opportune  for  my  purpose.  I  conveyed  large 
quantities  of  it  to  my  cabin,  prepared  the  fibres,  and  with  this  thoroughly 
interwove  the  lattice-work  of  my  frames,  which  were  then  ready  for 
use. 

"  To  put  them  in  place  I  hoisted  them  with  a  small  derrick  to  the 
top  of  the  platform  that  had  been  my  first  look-out  point,  and  from 
there  let  them  carefully  down.  I  secured  them  above  by  supports 
weighted  with  stones,  and  below  the  sharpened  feet  of  the  posts  were 
let  into  holes  by  degrees  prepared  for  them  in  the  rock. 

"  I  next  made  an  improved  course  for  the  flowing  metal,  the  first 
one  having  more  than  once  given  way  at  weak  points.  I  made  it 
longer,  too,  arranging  an  even  grade  for  it  across  a  considerable  yawning 
interval,  and  I  removed  the  receiving-trough  to  a  greater  distance. 
The  new  receiving-trough  was  larger  and  more  smoothly  finished 
within  than  the  former,  and  I  was  even  capable  of  lavishing  a  little 
ornament  upon  it,  for  what  did  apparatus  so  closely  identified  with  the 
garnering  of  this  wondrous  treasure  not  deserve?  For  a  while  I  set 
up  a  small  wheel  in  the  cold  brook,  capable  of  sending  a  stream  into 
the  trough  to  quickly  chill  its  contents,  but  this  I  afterwards  removed 
for  fear  of  detection.  Furthermore  I  scattered  rough  fragments  of 
volcanic  slag  about  in  every  direction,  to  artfully  conceal,  as  I  hoped, 
all  traces  of  human  handiwork. 

"  Nor  was  this  enough.  I  felt  it  necessary  to  form  around  all  the 
works  and  the  entire  place,  including  my  hut,  a  covert  of  heavy  stones 
resembling  those  in  the  central  cairn.  The  dread  of  discovery  is  never 
absent  from  my  thoughts,  and,  if  discovered,  the  most  desperate  energy 
of  one  man  could  not  expect  to  avail  against  such  fierce  cupidity  as  must 
be  aroused  by  the  temptation  here  presented. 

" '  It  is  true/  I  say  to  myself,  '  that  the  spot  is  not  on  the  route  to 
anywhere,  it  is  utterly  desolate,  nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  coming  here, 
and  the  strongest  prejudice  exists  against  it.  And,  yet,  other  men  may 
come  as  I  have  done ;  other  men  have  come,  as  witness  the  supersti 
tion,  and  the  accurate  account  of  the  phenomenon  given  even  by  my 
guides.' 

"  I  brought  down  my  derrick,  set  it  up  again,  and  placed  with  it 
numerous  cyclopean  blocks,  resembling  those  of  the  central  cairn,  leaving 
a  winding,  irregular  path  among  them.  When  this  was  done,  I  thought 


THE   FELLOW  SNAKE.  45 

the  whole  too  formal,  and  spent  much  time  in  giving  it  a  more  random 
effect.  I  look  with  longing,  envious  eyes  on  all  the  tongues  of  flame 
and  strong  steam-jets  going  to  waste  here  :  were  I  quite  free  from  con 
straint,  how  I  would  make  these  natural  forces  work  for  me !" 

These  passages  of  the  journal — against  the  bare  chance  of  their 
being  found  by  any  third  party — were  but  fragmentary  and  half  dis 
guised  under  the  form  of  a  fairy-tale,  and  he  made  mention  of  no  defi 
nite  locality.  The  journal  was  intended  in  good  measure  for  the  eye 
of  Amy,  but  it  would  have  been  hard  to  say  just  when  any  particular 
portion  of  it  came  into  her  hands,  and  whether  it  was  early  or  very 
much  later  that  she  saw  even  those  here  quoted.  There  were  many 
important  circumstances  the  writer  could  not  set  down  in  his  account 
for  her  out  of  common  prudence,  and  others  that  he  would  not  out  of 
native  modesty.  Thus  his  journal  contained  but  little,  for  instance, 
concerning  his  own  painful  labors,  which  were  often  really  herculean. 

His  various  tackles  were  wofully  inadequate,  compared  with  the 
tasks  he  imposed  upon  them.  He  quite  dismissed  the  ordinary  standard 
of  human  achievement,  and  performed  prodigies  of  strength  and  Archi 
medes-like  miracles  of  invention.  His  muscles,  always  powerful,  re 
sponded  grandly  to  the  tax  upon  them,  and  he  developed  new  powers 
unsuspected  in  himself.  Yet,  driven  on  by  his  fervid  zeal,  he  was 
always  dangerously  near  some  of  those  violent  strains  or  shocks  that 
would  have  put  an  end  to  all  and  crippled  him  for  life.  He  was  con 
stantly,  by  turns,  cold,  wet,  hungry,  scorched  by  excessive  heat,  or 
weighed  down  by  almost  unendurable  fatigue. 

"  The  earlier  Croesus,"  he  said,  "  offered  a  prize  for  the  discovery 
of  a  new  pleasure ;  I,  the  later  Croesus,  might  almost  offer  one  for  ex 
emption  from  a  new  pain." 

Nevertheless,  he  by  no  means  complained,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
even  rejoiced  in  his  hardships.  They  seemed  to  give  him  a  more  valid 
title  to  the  treasure.  They  were  a  mere  nothing  compared  to  the  life 
long  drudgery  to  which  most  men  are  condemned,  not  only  to  amass 
wealth,  but  even  to  obtain  a  bare  subsistence.  The  slightness  of  his 
real  claim  was  one  of  the  causes  of  his  nervous  dread  lest  all  should  be 
snatched  from  him  even  at  the  last  moment. 

"  It  is  the  destiny  of  man  to  win  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his 
brow,"  he  often  exclaimed,  "  and  woe  to  him  who  tries  to  escape  it !  I 
am  reaping  a  good  fortune  far  beyond  what  is  granted  to  the  ordinary 
lot  of  mortals,  and  I  ought  to  be  glad  of  any  small  semblance  of 
earning  it." 

Paths  were  traced  over  the  cinder-heaps  and  purple-black  emery- 
sand  by  his  frequent  goings  and  comings.  They  grew  as  familiar  to 
him  as  the  streets  of  Cuernavaca,  and  he  could  follow  them  as  well  by 
night  as  by  day.  It  seemed  to  him  he  had  been  there  a*  very  long 
time;  former  periods  of  existence  became  visionary,  the  world  of  men 
grew  small  in  contrast  with  this  world  of  elemental  forces.  He  had 
dedicated  himself  to  Vulcan ;  he  was  communing  directly  with  that 
mysterious  heart  of  the  earth  towards  which  his  fancy  had  been  so 
strongly  drawn.  He  felt  its  throbbing  pulse  in  earthquake-tremors; 
he  heard  its  breathing  in  the  issuing  steam,  and  sometimes  a  mysterious 


46  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE, 

sound  like  a  heavy  plaintive  sigh  came  forth  and  pervaded  all  the  place. 
He  might  have  thought,  as  the  simple  natives  say  of  Popocatepetl,  that 
wicked  chiefs  were  imprisoned  below  for  their  crimes,  and  their  groans 
and  murmurs  were  often  heard. 

At  night  he  had  around  him  lights  and  sounds  as  of  a  great  city, 
while  in  truth  there  was  only  unbroken  lonesomeness  on  every  hand. 
He  thought  upon  his  last  end  and  the  brevity  of  life,  as  one  could 
hardly  help  doing  amid  such  surroundings.  Still,  he  was  not  often 
gloomy.  He  was  full  of  aspiration  for  love,  power,  display,  for  all 
those  things  that  an  ardent  young  man  may  desire,  and  for  which  his 
desire  seemed  now  to  stand  no  small  chance  of  gratification. 

"  My  apprehension,"  he  related,  among  other  things,  "  has  led  me 
to  take  a  lesson  out  of  the  book  of  nature,  and  imitate  certain  animals 
whose  safety  lies  in  being  of  the  same  color  as  the  objects  around  them. 
I  have  easily  reduced  my  clothing  to  the  general  dusty  hue  of  the  Bar 
ranca,  and  thus  glide  about  very  little  distinguished  from  my  back 
ground.  There  is  steam  generally  floating  in  the  air,  and  this  is, 
perhaps,  an  efficient  protection  against  being  seen  from  above;  but  I 
have  often  fancied  I  saw  troops  of  animals  and  men  peering  down  from 
there." 

It  was  vagaries  of  the  crags  and  fringing  bushes  for  the  most  part 
that  produced  these  illusions,  but  occasionally  he  may  have  been  right, 
for  some  of  the  lonely  charcoal-burners  who  inhabited  the  district  may 
have  stopped  a  moment  to  gaze  downward  in  passing  by.  However, 
there  was  never  any  indication  that  he  was  seen,  and  no  harm  came  to 
him  from  this  source. 

He  had  a  quick  eye  for  natural  scenery,  and  did  not  soon  lose  his 
interest  in  the  striking  original  effects  offered  him  in  the  Barranca. 
From  his  hut  he  saw  the  sun  rise  and  set  like  a  flaming  beacon  on  the 
towering  cliffs.  These  cliffs,  broken  into  a  thousand  fantastic  or  cas 
tellated  shapes,  were  at  some  places  sheer,  uncompromising,  terrible, 
leaving  no  rest  for  the  eye  as  it  scaled  their  heights  in  search  of  lodge 
ment.  Elsewhere  they  showed  basaltic  columns,  some  tossed  at  random 
by  eccentric  force,  others  standing  upright,  and  many  broken  off  as  if 
for  pedestals  for  gigantic  statuary.  Small  lateral  cations,  too,  opened 
from  the  cliffs, — curious  nooks,  of  sharp  fracture,  forever  hidden  from 
the  sun. 

If  Walter  found  any  beautiful  thing,  he  laid  it  aside  in  his  cabinet, 
hoping  some  day  it  might  delight  the  eyes  of  Amy.  He  put  away  for 
her  arnygdaloids,  almond-shaped  crystals  formed  in  air-cavities  of  the 
lava,  specimens  of  scoria?  and  pumice  filled  with  crystalline  deposit,  and 
fossils  that  had  once  been  under  the  sea.  And  how  many  a  bulky  mass 
of  pudding-stone  he  broke  asunder  with  his  hammer  to  search  in  this 
promising  matrix  for  diamonds  ! 

"  Such  a  laboratory  affords  all  the  conditions  for  the  formation  of 
precious  stones,"  he  argued.  "  The  diamond  is  only  carbon,  the  ame 
thyst  silica,  and  the  ruby  and  sapphire  alumina,  all  crystallized  slowly 
under  enormous  pressure.  Why  should  I  not  find  some  of  them  ?" 

Nevertheless,  his  efforts  in  this  direction  did  not  meet  with  success. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  47 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PERILS  AND  ALARMS  IN  THE  BARRANCA. 

"  WHAT  do  I  believe  is  the  origin  of  it  all  ?  What  theory  shall  I 
set  down?"  the  journal  ran.  "Ah,  with  what  good  reason  I  now 
regret  the  lost  opportunities  of  my  school-days,  that  might  have  made 
me  a  thorough  master  of  such  an  exceptional  situation  as  this  !  I  know 
only  what  I  could  not  help  knowing.  Is  there  a  central  ocean  of  heat  ? 
I  cannot  think  so.  In  that  case  my  refreshing  cold  spring  must  have 
been  as  hot  as  the  perfervid  one  alongside  of  it,  and  all  springs  alike 
must  be  hot.  The  tides  of  such  an  ocean,  if  it  existed,  would  soon 
rack  this  frail  crust  of  earth  to  pieces.  No,  no ;  the  heat  that  comes  to 
us  in  such  irregular  places  and  degrees  is  of  local  origin.  As  I  con 
ceive  it,  our  black  and  solid  earth  is  a  mass  of  virgin  elements  to  most 
of  which  water  and  air  have  not  yet  got  access.  When  they  reach  any 
part  of  it,  it  slacks  like  lime,  and  a  heat  is  set  up  sufficient  to  melt  the 
hardest  rocks.  Or,  again,  different  chemical  elements  being  thrown 
together  by  movements  of  the  outer  crust  would  set  up  a  fierce  energy 
in  their  combination.  No  need  to  go  down  to  an  internal  ocean  for 
heat,  and  to  suppose  my  thin  stream  of  beneficent  treasure  comes  from 
there.  It  would  have  cooled  and  solidified,  like  other  veins  of  metal, 
long  since. 

"  The  rich  veins  that  miners  love,  the  wedge-shaped  ones,  increasing 
in  breadth  as  they  go  down,  are  formed  by  injection  from  below.  The 
metallic  stream  has  run  or  the  metallic  vapors  cooled  in  some  chance 
crevice  of  the  everlasting  rocks,  and  there  was  my  vein. 

"  There  was  my  vein,  good !  Now,  what  has  happened  to  make 
this  my  crucible  and  bring  the  gold  up  to  me  in  molten  form  ?  One  of 
three  things,  as  it  seems  to  me.  A  jet  of  gas  or  superheated  steam, 
like  a  blast  from  a  blow-pipe,  may  have  touched  the  vein ;  or  violent 
chemical  action  may  have  broken  out  close  to  it ;  or  what  if  one  of  the 
liquid  sheets  of  lava  that,  unable  to  reach  to  the  surface,  force  them 
selves  between  the  strata  sideways  for  long  distances,  and  are  hundreds 
of  years  in  cooling,  had  obtained  access  to  it  ?" 

So  he  went  on  with  his  speculations.  He  cut  thin  laminae  of  the 
lavas,  and,  examining  them  under  his  microscope  by  transmitted  light, 
could  tell  the  depths  from  which  they  came.  The  great  caldron  of 
boiling  lava  he  had  named  La  Caldera  seemed  a  veritable  mouth  of 
the  infernal  regions.  It  gave  out  an  almost  continuous  roar,  and  from 
time  to  time  shot  forth  fiery  bombs  with  showers  of  scintillating  drops, 
and  fan-like  tails  of  beautiful  spun  glass,  as  fine  as  hair,  streaming 
behind  them.  With  microscope  and  spectroscope  he  found  these  bombs 
from  the  still  active  crater  made  of  native  sodium,  calcium,  mag 
nesium,  and  potassium, — the  precise  materials  of  the  wandering  mete 
orites  that  fall  to  us  from  trackless  space.  He  found  the  heart  of  the 
earth  identical  in  composition  with  the  illimitable  stars.  The  result  of 
all  these  studies,  though  they  should  never  have  any  other,  was  to 
vastly  increase  his  reverence  for  the  sublimity  of  creation. 


48  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  his  dwelling  he  had  found  a  series  of 
caverns,  and  these  he  turned  to  use  as  receptacles  for  his  garnered 
treasure.  They  were  of  various  shapes  and  sizes,  some  connecting  too 
among,  themselves,  others  standing  singly.  They  were  formed,  like 
his  hut,  of  a  shell  of  lava  which  had  cooled,  while  an  inner  stream, 
still  fluid,  had  passed  on,  leaving  them  high  and  dry  above  it. 

Every  day  Walter  collected  and  stored  away  its  own  accumulation 
and  instalment.  How  slowly  the  amount  seemed  to  grow,  to  the  view 
of  his  ardent  impatience !  The  normal  return  was  liberal,  and  even 
princely,  but  there  were  days  when  the  stream  did  not  flow  pure,  being 
mingled  with,  or  even  almost  wholly  composed  of,  a  lava  imitating  its 
color.  These  drawbacks,  which  seemed  to  follow  especially  some  of 
the  volcanic  tremblings  and  oscillations  in  the  valley,  reduced  the  ex 
pected  average  of  value.  He  made  an  an-astra,  or  crusher,  of  large 
revolving  stones,  to  break  up  the  bulky  pieces,  and  a  smelting  appa 
ratus,  to  reduce  the  portions  thus  alloyed  to  the  condition  of  the 
rest. 

His  caution  led  him  to  do  much  of  the  storage-work  at  night :  so 
familiar  was  he  with  the  ground  that  he  could  carry  it  on  then  almost 
as  well  as  by  daylight.  The  fragments  of  rough  slag  along  the  way 
took  every  variety  of  eccentric  shape,  and  often  startled  him  at  first 
with  the  vivid  likeness  to  crouching  wild  beasts  or  human  figures  with 
weapons  in  their  hands,  but  no  real  peril  arose. 

One  night  he  returned  late  from  a  visit  to  his  caverns.  Jupiter 
was  shining  very  brightly  at  the  time,  and  he  was  looking  up  at  a 
nebulous  halo  about  the  brilliant  planet.  Suddenly  there  flashed  be 
fore  him  something  like  a  lantern  swinging  in  a  man's  hand.  It  came 
from  behind  a  rock  directly  into  the  path,  and  was  too  near  for  him 
now  to  retreat. 

"Who  goes  there?"  he  asked,  at  the  same  time  raising  his  re 
volver. 

With  the  commingled  voices  of  the  valley  in  his  ears,  he  thought 
he  heard  murmured  words,  but  no  definite  answer  was  vouchsafed. 
The  light  approached  nearer,  so  near  that  its  gleam  fell  directly  upon 
him.  He  fired — once  !  twice  !  the  bullets  singing  to  their  mark  as  in 
a  vicious  way.  The  appearance  merely  lifted,  shot  up  into  the  air,  and 
exploded  with  a  bright  effulgence  and  slight  crackling  sound.  It  was 
a  sort  of  will-o'-the-wisp  or  St.  Elmo's  fire. 

After  this  such  vagrant  dancing  flames  were  not  infrequent :  they 
were  perhaps  connected  with  the  beginning  of  some  new  period  in  the 
weather.  Walter  was  not  superstitious,  but  he  had  heard  many  old 
wives'  tales,  and  one  had  need  to  be  stout  of  heart  indeed,  for  if  goblin 
shapes  and  spectral  visions  ever  appeared  this  place  should  be  more 
favorable  to  them  than  most  others. 

The  time  came  round  for  him  to  convey  his  letters  to  Amy.  He 
prepared  the  missive  for  his  aunts,  using  in  it  the  points  she  had  given 
him.  If  these  lacked  a  little  freshness,  they,  in  their  small  experience, 
would  never  detect  it.  He  had  thought  he  would  employ  his  long 
periods  of  leisure  at  the  Barranca  in  writing  pages  upon  pages  to  Amy, 
laying  open  every  thought  before  her ;  but  when  his  labors  were  over 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  49 

he  dropped  half  dead  with  fatigue,  and  somehow  nothing  was  ready  for 
statement ;  the  time  had  not  yet  arrived.  She  reproached  him  afterwards 
for  the  lack  of  fulness  in  his  intelligence,  saying, — 

"  You  might  just  as  well  have  been  in  New  York,  for  all  I  really 
know  of  you." 

He  stole  out  in  disguise,  made  his  trip  to  Las  Delicias,  and  returned 
almost  like  a  man  walking  in  his  sleep,  so  little  did  he  seem  now  to 
belong  in  the  upper  world,  and  so  engrossed  was  he  with  what  he  left 
behind.  He  could  hardly  have  told  it  was  not  a  dream,  except  for  one 
awakening  shock  of  alarm  he  had  in  coming  face  to  face  with  his  former 
servant  Pablo.  It  was  near  the  village  of  La  Madalena,  west  of  the 
hacienda,  in  the  morning,  and  the  eyes  of  this  stupid  man — who  was 
driving  some  young  stock  marked  with  the  brand  of  the  Jefe  Politico — 
opened  wider  and  wider  at  him  in  growing  recognition.  Don  Walter 
stumbled  and  fell  as  by  accident,  gave  one  of  the  cattle  a  sharp  thrust 
that  threw  the  troop  into  confusion,  and,  amid  the  dust  and  turmoil, 
slipped  into  a  cloister,  whence  the  sing-song  hum  of  urchins  reciting 
their  spelling-lesson  to  the  schoolmaster  was  heard,  and  so  out  on  the 
other  side,  and  escaped. 

The  account,  too,  he  had  from  Amy's  letter  of  the  hue  and  cry 
raised  about  his  horse  was  a  further  awakening  influence.  He  mar 
velled  at  the  danger  he  had  narrowly  escaped,  and  at  the  sweetness  and 
kindness  of  her  who  must  have  been  so  sorely  tried  for  him.  The  con 
sequence  of  all  this  was  that  the  risks  seemed  too  great,  and  he  missed 
entirely  the  next  date  set  for  his  venturing  forth. 

The  subsistence  problem  was  a  simple  one ;  his  fare  in  the  cafion 
was  even  more  than  frugal.  Yet  sometimes  a  youthful  stomach  would 
crave  a  sustenance  more  suited  to  maintain  the  vigor  of  the  body  in  the 
arduous  labors  in  which  it  was  engaged,  and  then  he  put  his  gun  on  his 
shoulder  and  went  along  the  lower  ledges  of  the  enclosing  walls.  Most 
wild  creatures  would  naturally  have  a  salutary  dread  of  the  place  and 
give  it  a  wide  berth  ;  nevertheless,  some  game  was  to  be  had.  Once  he 
killed  a  deer,  of  which  there  were  plenty  in  the  forests  above.  He  had 
no  fear  about  the  reports  being  heard,  for  they  would  easily  be  confounded 
with  the  detonations  of  the  place  itself. 

One  eventful  day,  a  dread  that  had  long  haunted  him  at  last  came 
true.  To  him,  as  to  Robinson  Crusoe,  there  appeared  a  man  within 
his  peculiar  domain.  It  was  on  the  return  from  one  of  his  hunting- 
trips  that  he  saw  this  stranger,  near  the  lava-basin.  The  man  had  at 
first  sight  the  miserable  aspect  of  one  of  the  poor  alkali-gatherers ;  but 
presently  Walter  found  in  him  a  familiar  look.  He  fancied  he  recog 
nized  Kaufmann,  the  foreman  of  the  glass-works  at  the  lower  end  of 
Lake  Jornada,  a  workman  of  much  ability  in  his  line,  brought  over 
originally  from  famous  Murano. 

Walter  had  been  told  in  visits  paid  there  that  it  was  upon  the 
skill  of  Kaufmann  that  the  success  of  the  manufactory  chiefly  de 
pended. 

"  What  is  he  doing  here  in  such  a  guise  ?"  murmured  Walter.  "  He 
has  the  air  rather  of  searching  for  some  outlet  than  of  making  discov 
eries  ;  yet  there  is  no  surprise  or  treachery  that  I  ought  not  to  be  pre- 
VOL.  XLIL— 4 


50  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

pared  for ;  there  is  no  telling  what  he  may  stumble  upon  by  accident, 
if  not  by  design.  I  must  not  let  him  get  out  of  my  sight  for  a 
moment." 

He  stole  along  at  a  distance,  keeping  a  parallel  course  to  that  of  the 
visitor,  while  screening  himself  behind  intervening  obstacles. 

His  heart  throbbed  faster  and  faster,  and  began  to  be  fairly  in  his 
mouth  as  the  invader  moved  on,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  arrange 
ments — though,  to  be  sure,  expressly  made  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of 
the  public — were  about  for  the  first  time  to  receive  inspection.  Instead 
of  keeping  straight  on,  however,  the  foreman,  whose  course  was  a  mean 
dering  one,  and  who  might  really  have  had  no  more  intention  in  entering 
the  valley  than  to  get  out  of  it,  bore  to  the  left. 

This  line,  converging  upon  that  furtively  pursued  by  Walter, 
crowded  the  latter  into  yet  more  secure  hiding.  Crawling  over  a  slope 
of  debris  between  two  parallel  rocks,  near  the  side-wall  of  the  gorge, 
his  eyes  still  cast  about  for  the  enemy,  he  did  not  at  once  perceive  an 
even  more  formidable  danger  that  awaited  him.  He  looked  up,  to  dis 
cover  a  large,  powerful  wild  beast,  reddish  brown,  with  white  throat, 
poised  before  him,  ready  to  spring. 

"  The  lion !  the  lion  !"  was  his  startled  exclamation  mentally.  His 
faculties  were  all  but  paralyzed  for  a  moment  at  this  sudden  peril. 

He  had  recognized  the  formidable  animal  known  as  the  cougar,  the 
American  lion,  though  in  reality  it  is  more  like  a  panther  than  a  lion. 
But  even  in  the  midst  of  his  panic  he  could  not  help  recalling  a  ridicu 
lous  story  wont  to  be  told  by  a  boasting  friend  of  his,  of  how  he  had 
once  met  one  on  the  Cumbres,  near  Boca  del  Monte,  with  no  weapon 
but  an  umbrella  in  his  hand ;  he  had  thrust  the  umbrella  down  its 
throat,  and,  thanks  to  this  distraction,  got  off  unharmed.  For  his  own 
part,  he  had  never  got  nearer  one  than  very  long  range,  though  he  had 
often  tried  to  do  so,  nor  had  he  seen  any  other  wild  adversary  since 
coming  to  the  valley  more  dangerous  than  an  occasional  red  wolf 
prowling  at  a  distance. 

His  stealthy,  unconscious  approach,  so  different  from  either  fear  or 
hostility,  had  perhaps  puzzled  the  animal :  it  may  have  regarded  him 
with  an  element  of  curiosity.  It  stood  with  one  paw  raised  to  strike ; 
its  greenish  optics  gave  out  that  glint  of  elusive  expression  that  is  the 
essence  of  untamable  savagery,  and  the  lips  of  its  whiskered  visage  were 
drawn  back  from  its  savage  jaws. 

Walter,  by  nature  quick  in  action,  had  his  rifle  already  in  position 
and  a  finger  placed  on  the  trigger.  But  to  fire  would  be  to  betray  his 
whereabouts  to  the  stranger  and  his  secret  to  the  world  :  better  any  risk 
than  that ;  he  must  not  shoot  till  it  was  imperatively  the  last  resort. 
With  the  other  hand  he  slowly  drew  his  sharp  machete  from  his  belt. 
The  same  absence  of  shock  that  had  kept  the  animal  quiet  thus  far 
availed  him  in  this,  but  when  the  shining  blade  was  fairly  out  it  seemed 
to  act  as  a  challenge. 

Walter  felt  the  bound  as  of  a  heavy  body  made  of  whalebone  and 
steel,  felt  the  violent  collision  as  it  impinged  upon  his  weapon,  firmly 
set  like  a  bayonet  to  receive  a  charge,  felt  the  ground  give  way  beneath 
him  with  a  crackling  and  crunching  sound,  knew  he  was  falling  and 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  51 

being  buried,  and  finally  came  to  his  senses  in  the  bottom  of  a  deep  pit 
on  a  bed  of  snow. 

What  had  happened  ?  A  thin  roof-crust  had  broken  through,  and 
he  was  in  one  of  those  cavities  on  the  side  of  the  sunless  north,  over 
hung  by  the  tallest  of  the  brooding  cliffs,  where  the  snows  of  some  phe 
nomenal  season,  or  perhaps  even  of  some  past  geologic  epoch,  were  per 
manently  hidden  and  preserved.  The  city  of  Catania,  in  Sicily,  is 
thus  supplied  with  ice  preserved  under  the  lava-floods  of  .ZEtna. 

He  must  have  fallen  some  twenty  feet :  how  was  he  to  get  out  ? 
Jarred,  bruised,  and  benumbed  as  he  was,  there  at  first  seemed  no  way 
of  scaling  the  rough  walls.  There  was  danger,  too,  of  his  sinking  lower, 
and  even  being  buried  out  of  sight  in  the  soft  snow.  He  tied  one  end 
of  his  lasso  to  his  rifle,  then,  nerved  by  desperation,  inserted  his  machete, 
which  had  fallen  with  him,  into  a  crevice  of  the  rock,  stepped  upon  it 
for  a  support,  and  laid  hold  of  some  opportune  projections  above.  He 
repeated  the  process  till,  little  by  little,  he  reached  the  top,  and  then 
drew  up  his  rifle  after  him. 

It  was  a  work  of  no  speedy  accomplishment.  The  moon  was 
shining  over  the  edge  of  the  Barranca  when  he  emerged.  The  wan 
dering  invader  of  his  realm,  and  the  ferocious  animal,  had  alike  dis 
appeared.  No  trace  remained  of  either.  It  had  all  transpired  in  a 
flash,  like  some  of  the  absurd  things  he  had  seen  in  pantomimes  by  the 
zarzuela  companies  at  the  theatres. 

The  vividness  of  the  episode  passed  away  in  time,  as  that  of  others 
had  done,  but  it  served  as  a  reason  for  increased  alarm  and  new  pre 
cautions. 

CHAPTER  X. 

FAILURE  IS  ADDED  TO  HARDSHIP. 

WALTER  by  no  means  used  the  more  obvious  places  of  concealment 
in  his  caverns,  but  sought  the  inmost  penetralia.  His  plan  was  to  fill 
stout  bags,  he  had  brought  with  him,  like  those  of  the  sulphur-gatherers 
of  Popocatepetl,  full  of  the  treasure,  and,  after  depositing  them,  to  heap 
them  over  with  black  sand  and  scatter  loose  fragments  on  the  top. 
When  this  supply  of  bags  was  exhausted,  he  made  little  heaps  of  about 
the  same  cubical  contents,  that  he  might  keep  the  basis  for  his  general 
estimate  unimpaired,  and  covered  them  with  sand  in  like  manner. 

Standing  in  one  of  these  caverns  where  he  had  piled  the  bags  several 
tiers  high,  he  would  liken  himself  fancifully  to  the  famous  Inca  of 
Peru  in  his  room  full  of  gold  which  the  remorseless  Pizarro  had  de 
manded  as  ransom. 

His  over-anxiety  even  led  him  to  make  his  precautions  too  elaborate. 
He  connected  together  the  different  depositories  by  means  of  a  system 
of  clues,  all  leading  to  a  centre,  and  carefully  hidden  from  sight,  but 
somehow  his  clues  became  disorganized  and  thrown  into  such  confusion 
that  he  himself  had  much  difficulty  in  finding  many  of  the  places 
again.  A  more  serious  matter  still  was  the  falling  in  of  some  of  the 
roofs  upon  the  bags,  which  it  cost  him  severe  labor  to  recover  from  their 
interment. 


52  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

All  this  put  him  upon  seeking  yet  more  secure  hiding-places,  and 
these  he  found  in  caverns  of  greater  extent  and  stability  in  the  side- 
walls  of  the  Barranca.  There  was  unmelting  snow  near  some  of  them, 
too,  as  in  the  pit  into  which  he  had  fallen,  and  this  served  his  purpose 
quite  as  well  as  sand  for  covering  up  his  ingots. 

In  exploring  these,  he  entered  one  opening  behind  a  small  grove  of 
trees  from  which  all  vegetation  was  blasted,  leaving  only  bare  whitened 
limbs,  rattling  together  like  skeletons.  No  sooner  was  he  a  few  feet 
from  its  mouth  than  he  felt  his  head  benumbed  by  an  overpowering 
heaviness  and  his  limbs  sink  under  him.  With  an  instinct  to  fly  that 
seemed  the  last  expiring  effort  of  consciousness,  he  crawled  out  on  his 
hands  and  knees  and  reached  the  free  open  air  again.  He  lay  for  a 
considerable  time  with  the  blood  beating  loudly  in  his  temples,  gasping, 
and  unable  to  rise.  He  had  got  into  a  new  Avernus,  or  a  place  like  the 
famous  Grotto  del  Cane  at  Naples,  which  no  animal  can  enter  and  live. 

Returning  to  this  spot  afterwards,  and  examining  it  with  a  caution 
which  the  adventure  induced  him  to  extend  to  all  his  other  researches 
as  well,  he  found  it  a  vent  of  deadly  carbonic  acid  gas.  There  was 
even  a  sort  of  natural  tank  without,  which  was  filled  by  the  gas  pouring 
down  from  it.  In  this  Don  Walter,  with  his  youthful  taste  for  novelty, 
managed  to  bathe,  keeping  his  head  well  above  the  gas,  so  much 
heavier  than  air,  and  he  thought  he  found  a  peculiar  refreshment  in  it 
for  his  tired  bones.  The  transportation  of  his  hoard  and  rearrange 
ment  of  it  in  the  new  quarters  was  another  work  that  occupied  no 
small  time. 

He  kept  a  careful  diagram  of  all  the  places  of  deposit,  and  a  rude 
tally-book  with  the  contents  of  each.  The  amount  grew  apace ;  he  had 
freight  for  many  mules,  and,  still  attaching  no  definite  ideas  of  value 
to  it,  he  was  always  vaguely  troubled  by  the  speculation  as  to  how  he 
should  get  it  out  of  the  country  :  that  he  felt  was  likely  to  be  an  even 
more  difficult  undertaking  than  the  other. 

To  really  go  to  New  York  and  enlist  some  American  capitalists 
who  should  make  it  a  sort  of  international  enterprise ;  to  confide  in 
General  del  Prado ;  to  pretend  to  engage  in  the  business  of  dealing  in 
stock  between  this  part  of  the  country  and  the  coast,  and,  in  his  various 
trips,  convey  away  the  treasure  depending  upon  an  arrangement  with 
some  irregular  vessel  afterwards  to  transport  it  over-seas, — all  these 
projects  passed  through  his  mind,  and  their  attendant  obstacles  followed 
close  behind  them.  He  could  not  reconcile  himself  to  bringing  in  out 
side  assistance  at  this  late  stage;  yet  he  was  two  hundred  miles  from 
the  coast  by  the  nearest  line,  and  the  country  abounded  in  unscrupulous 
characters,  not  to  say  positive  brigands. 

"  But  I  will  not  cross  the  bridge  till  I  reach  it,"  he  said  to  himself: 
"  there  is  time  enough  and  to  spare,  heaven  knows,  and  some  way  will 
surely  be  presented." 

Meantime,  he  determined  at  last  to  prepare  a  statement  for  Amy 
containing  such  a  full  explanation  of  his  identity,  his  depressed  views 
of  life,  and  the  real  nature  of  his  mission  in  coming  here,  as  would  set 
all  that  she  ought  to  know  or  might  naturally  be  supposed  to  be  in 
terested  in  knowing  clearly  before  her.  If  he  failed  she  would  at  least 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  53 

comprehend  what  he  had  tried  to  do,  and — though  if  he  failed  life  con 
tained  nothing  but  blackness,  and  he  looked  forward  in  no  pharisaical 
way  to  winning  her  on  his  good  intentions  alone — there  would  be  a 
certain  mournful  satisfaction  in  that.  He  wanted  her  to  have  this  be 
fore  he  saw  her  again,  that  she  might  have  had  time  to  be  thinking  it 
over.  He  included  in  the  confession  no  more  of  his  love  for  herself 
than  might  be  inferred :  all  that  would  come  later. 

The  whole  was  disguised  as  before,  purporting  to  be  only  an  account, 
by  one  Ignacio  Gomez,  of  what  had  happened  in  the  ancient  land  of 
Cibola. 

There  were  two  things  in  the  valley  that  greatly  affected  the  imagi 
nation  of  Walter.  The  one,  which,  as  it  came  to  nothing,  may  first  be 
briefly  dismissed,  was  the  question,  what  had  become  of  all  the  deposit  of 
the  golden  spring  in  times  gone  by  ?  Pressing  almost  unwarrantably 
close  to  the  boiling  stream  in  defiance  of  the  fierce  heat,  he  found  an 
ancient  inscription  on  one  of  a  number  of  great  stones  that  seemed  to 
have  been  tumbled  into  it,  as  it  were,  above  its  very  source.  Perhaps 
these  stones  had  come  there  not  by  accident  but  design.  The  stream  rose 
in  its  greatest  strength  from  immediately  beneath  them,  being  bent  down 
by  them  like  a  stout  sapling,  and  thus  forced  over  to  impinge  violently 
on  the  rock  whence  the  Yellow  Snake  leaped  forth.  They  certainly 
changed  its  course.  What  if  the  accumulation  of  treasure  did  not  lie 
deep  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  but  only  in  the  bed  of  this  stream,  which 
had  been  turned  over  it  by  those  who  would  preserve  the  secret  from 
the  general  eye?  And  they,  heathen  priests  or  whoever  they  might 
have  been,  what  had  become  of  them — if  his  fanciful  surmise  was  right 
— that  the  secret  was  lost  ?  But  that  was  now  out  of  the  reach  of  any 
human  divination. 

Walter  Arroyo  continually  regarded  the  stones  with  tantalized  and 
hungry  eye,  but  to  displace  them  was  beyond  the  force  at  his  disposal. 
And  then,  too,  could  he  command  the  mechanism  and  materials  for  the 
powerful  explosions  necessary  to  bring  about  such  a  result,  the  effect 
upon  the  present  source  of  supply  must  be  greatly  dreaded.  The  shock 
might  disturb  an  equilibrium  no  doubt  very  delicate,  and  so  put  an  end 
to  the  goose  that  laid  the  golden  egg. 

The  other  subject  by  which  he  was  haunted But  let  it  be  stated 

in  his  own  words : 

"  Cannot  the  source  be  enlarged  upon  and  improved  ?  Perhaps 
there  is  a  much  larger  quantity  of  the  metal  than  appears.  It  may  be 
pushing  for  exit  in  large  supply  just  behind  the  face  of  the  rock  there, 
and  only  checked  by  a  too  narrow  orifice." 

He  had  observed  that  the  flow  was  freer  on  days  of  low  barometer, 
and  the  fact  gave  credibility  to  his  surmise. 

These  ideas  were  present  to  him  whenever  he  went  near  the  source. 
In  his  feverish  haste  to  secure  more  rapid  returns,  the  temptation  was  a 
most  seductive  one.  Little  by  little  he  yielded  to  it. 

Very  cautiously,  very  delicately,  he  removed  a  small  portion  of  the 
rock,  and  slightly  enlarged  the  opening.  Joy !  the  flow  distinctly 
rounded  itself  out  to  the  larger  bore.  Again,  and  yet  again,  he  broke 
off  with  his  hammer  and  short  drill  some  further  portions  of  the  rock. 


54  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

It  was  apparent  it  would  stand  even  more.  He  probed  the  opening, 
always  with  the  same  delicacy,  using  a  long  crow-bar,  and  this  had  a 
most  excellent  effect :  the  stream  still  expanded  to  its  increased  oppor 
tunities.  Visions  of  a  speedy  end  to  the  rest  of  his  arduous  task  swam 
before  the  warm  fancy  of  the  experimenter. 

It  seemed  as  if  a  very  small,  inoffensive  blast  with  powder  might  be 
tried.  A  hopeful  ardor  put  down  the  voice  of  prudence.  The  blast  was 
placed  and  fired. 

Ah,  heaven !  who  could  have  foretold,  who  could  have  believed 
credible,  so  hideously  painful  a  result  ?  The  flow  ceased  instantly,  abso 
lutely,  and  no  subsequent  efforts  could  recover  it.  The  goose  that  laid 
the  golden  egg  was  slain  indeed,  and  by  Walter's  own  hand. 

At  first  he  felt  that  only  some  insignificant  fragment  had  blocked 
the  way,  which  could  easily  be  removed,  but  he  cleared  away  the  debris 
without  result.  Then  with  breathless  increasing  haste  he  began  to  work, 
— with  short  drill  and  long  drill,  with  mattock  and  pick.  He  fell  upon 
the  recalcitrant  rock  with  the  energy,  the  fury  of  coming  despair.  Mere 
tools  would  not  answer,  but  he  would  still  reach  back  to  where  the  elu 
sive  golden  stream  had  hidden  its  head.  So  he  fired  blast  after  blast  in 
increasing  quantities,  till  most  of  the  rock  was  shattered  away,  and  the 
whole  appearance  of  the  place  was  changed. 

"  Oh,  immeasurable  dolt !     Oh,  ineffable  madman !" 

So  he  called  himself,  and  in  the  first  access  of  his  dismay  and  dis 
appointment  he  drew  his  revolver,  purposing  to  end  his  days ;  but  even 
then  some  vestige  of  fine  old  Stoic  philosophy  and  courage  remained  and 
stayed  his  hand. 

"  If  the  stream  be  checked  here,  it  must  come  out  somewhere  else 
in  the  vicinity,  or  at  least  in  the  Barranca/'  he  cried.  "  I  will  not  be 
baffled  so  !  I  will  have  it !" 

He  knew  in  his  heart,  however,  that  it  might  be  at  no  more  accessible 
a  spot  than  the  bottom  of  the  boiling  torrent. 

He  nowhere  found  any  indication  of  it.  Then  he  began  to  go  over 
again,  with  redoubled  painstaking,  all  his  former  researches  for  treasure 
in  some  other  form.  He  said  to  himself  that  they  had  been  only  super 
ficial,  when,  in  fact,  they  had  already  been  most  thorough.  Once  more 
he  broke  the  pudding-stone  for  diamonds,  once  more  washed  the  sands 
of  the  brook  and  the  alluvial  earth,  holding  up  his  pan  to  the  light, 
that  the  sunbeams  might  catch  with  a  glitter  on  any  chance  particles  of 
gold,  and  once  more  made  small  chambers  over  the  respiradores  and 
fumaroles  to  condense  the  sublimated  mineral  vapors.  He  was  more 
like  a  crazy  man  than  one  in  the  full  possession  of  his  faculties. 

The  most  daring  attempt  of  all  he  made  was  to  actually  descend 
into  the  open  lava-caldron.  He  wished  to  secure  some  of  the  glowing- 
ruddy  liquid  always  boiling  there,  with  flame  and  smoke,  on  the  bare 
wild  chance  that  it  might  contain  gold  in  its  composition. 

With  the  apparatus  he  had  prepared,  he  got  to  windward  of  the 
fumes,  and  descended  one  of  the  steep,  rocky  slopes  of  the  crater.  Here 
was  a  sort  of  terrace,  or  narrow  ledge  of  black  and  loamy  soil,  like 
dried-up  mud,  within  which,  as  in  a  vast  black  melting-pot,  and  at  a 
lower  level,  was  the  hellish,  seething  broth  that  he  would  test. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  55 

He  proceeded  to  let  down  an  earthen  jar  made  fast  with  an  iron 
chain.  The  bucket  struck  the  surface,  filled,  and  disappeared.  Walter 
attempted  to  pull  it  up  on  the  instant,  but  the  incandescent  flood  had 
already  melted  off  bucket  and  iron  chain,  the  latter  as  far  as  its  fiery 
chaps  had  reached,  and  he  staggered  back  with  only  a  useless  remnant 
of  the  chain  in  his  hand. 

"  What  shall  I  do  next  ?"  he  demanded. 

He  bethought  him  of  his  asbestos,  with  which  he  had  had  in  other 
ways  so  successful  an  experience.  He  procured  a  new  supply  of  it,  con 
structed  a  sort  of  dipper-box  of  this  fireproof  material,  and  also  twisted 
a  rope  of  the  fibres,  to  be  attached  to  it.  Thus  prepared,  he  returned 
to  the  crater  another  day.  He  let  down  the  asbestos  bucket  and  secured 
the  specimen  he  wanted.  But,  after  all  this,  it  proved  to  be  only  lava, 
differing  but  little  from  what  lay  about  him  on  every  hand. 

This  was  his  last  resort.  He  might  be  said  to  return  from  it  like 
another  Orpheus  returning  from  Hades,  for,  in  his  consciousness  of  fail 
ure,  he,  too,  seemed  to  leave  behind  him  the  dear  Eurydice  who  had 
been  his  promised  reward.  His  own  danger  had  been  great  throughout, 
but  he  made  nothing  of  that.  Perhaps  he  would  not  have  cared  over 
much  if  fate  had  there  seen  fit  to  put  an  end  to  his  existence  after  so 
miserably  balking  his  plans. 

There  was  every  reason  to  believe  that  all  was  now  at  an  end, 
and  nothing  more  remained  for  him  to  do  in  the  Barranca.  He  had 
only  to  secure  what  he  had,  and  invent  that  plan  for  getting  it  out 
of  the  country  which  he  had  so  long  kept  in  abeyance.  Consolatory 
mental  voices  tried  to  persuade  him  that  even  his  present  success  was 
not  to  be  despised ;  but  he  would  have  none  of  this. 

"  To  give  back  some  millions  that  nobody  had  expected  might  be 
thought  to  have  a  fine  effect,"  he  said,  "  but  there  would  still  remain 
people  to  whom  other  millions  were  due.  How  could  I  hold  up  my 
head  and  take  the  world  in  a  bold  fashion  so  far  as  they  are  concerned  ? 
No,  it  would  only  be  said  that  a  part  of  the  robbery  had  been  made 
good  by  way  of  a  compromise  with  conscience  for  keeping  the  rest.  It 
would  never  be  believed  that  one  who  had  so  much  had  not  the  whole." 

These  reflections,  quixotic  perhaps  from  the  shrewd,  practical  point 
of  view,  may  have  aided  his  reluctance  to  leave  so  hard-fought  a  field. 
He  could  not  bear  to  give  it  up.  A  pertinacious  obstinacy  and  linger 
ing  hope  kept  continually  springing  to  life  even  now. 

"  What  if  I  go  out  to  one  of  the  larger  cities,  even  as  far  as  Mexico," 
he  said,  "  get  a  new  supply  and  better  blasting-material,  return,  and  try 
again  £  This  dynamite,  of  which  they  talk  so  much  lately,  would,  no 
doubt,  suit  my  purpose  here.  With  plenty  of  good  explosives,  I  will 
shatter  every  stone  in  the  place,  if  necessary,  till  I  come  to  the  Yellow 
Snake.  And  then  I  can  look  for  the  lost  deposit,  too,  without  hurting 
any  other  interest." 

So  ran  his  final  decision.  Every  day  until  now  he  had  sent  the 
message  of  his  safety  to  Amy  by  the  spring.  With  what  suffering  the 
dumb  current  would  have  pulsed,  could  it  have  conveyed  his  own 
feelings,  in  these  later  days,  to  her  !  But  for  a  while  the  signal  must 
be  abandoned.  The  third  period  set  for  the  exchange  of  letters  had 


56  THE  YELLOW  SNAKE. 

also  come  around.  He  determined,  therefore,  to  stop  on  his  way  at 
Las  Delicias,  both  on  account  of  the  letters  and  to  reassure  Amy  as  to 
the  cessation  of  the  signal  and  the  beginning  of  his  wanderings. 

"  Was  she  well  ?"  At  first  thought  it  seemed  almost  absurd  to  fancy 
anything  could  happen  to  one  so  tenderly  cared  for  in  the  midst  of 
every  luxury ;  all  dangers  rather  were  reserved  for  his  own  lot.  But 
he  knew  that  pale  death,  with  sickness  and  calamity  as  well,  knocks 
equally  at  regal  palaces  and  at  the  hovels  of  the  poor,  and  no  small 
anxiety  about  her  was  added  to  the  sum  of  all  the  others.  His 
letter  to  her  breathed,  even  though  he  tried  to  guard  against  it,  a  sense 
of  his  discouragement,  fatigue,  and  uncertainty  about  the  future.  He 
hesitated  much  as  to  whether  he  should  put  in  the  confession  he  had 
prepared  for  her,  but  decided  in  the  affirmative.  Was  there  not  now 
all  the  more  reason  for  it,  since  the  prospect  of  success  had  grown  so 
remote  ? 

All  was  made  ready  for  departure ;  he  left  his  belongings  in  as 
wild  a  state  as  possible,  and  began  to  climb  the  craggy  wooded  path. 
Here,  as  once  before,  he  met  with  an  accident.  A  large  stone  rolled 
from  its  place  under  his  touch  and  bore  him  down.  It  pinned  him  to 
the  earth,  yet  was  stopped  by  several  small  obstacles  from  crushing 
him  with  its  full  weight.  He  managed  to  extricate  himself,  but  was  in 
great  pain  and  unfitted  to  proceed. 

A  forlorn  wounded  creature,  he  dragged  himself  back  to  his  hut, 
and,  his  hurts  stiffening  and  taking  an  even  more  aggravated  form  be 
fore  they  got  better,  he  lay  there  for  many  days  capable  only  of  the 
efforts  necessary  to  secure  such  food  and  drink  as  would  maintain  life. 
He  seemed  abandoned  by  heaven  and  earth ;  his  lonely  unbefriended 
condition  made  a  scornful  mockery  of  the  golden  dreams  in  which  he 
had  so  lately  indulged.  Nevertheless,  no  bones  were  broken,  nor  was 
any  lasting  injury  wrought,  and,  though  the  torment  of  mental  activity 
retarded  his  recovery,  he  slowly  regained  sufficient  of  his  forces  to  be 
about  again. 

Then  he  went  back  to  look  at  the  locality  of  the  Yellow  Snake, 
beset  by  the  secret  hope  that  in  this  long  interval  it  must  have  come 
forth  again.  But  there  lay  the  scene  made  desolate  by  his  imprudent 
labors,  as  still  and  devoid  of  any  trace  of  it  as  ever,  and  so  once  more 
he  set  out  for  the.upper  world  in  a  state  of  great  depression. 

In  all  this  time  he  had  not  once  touched  the  signal,  nor  could  he 
now  renew  it.  He  only  bestowed  upon  it  a  sad  smile  in  passing  to 
think  how  far  beyond  his  strength  it  was  to  replace  the  apparatus 
which  by  precaution  he  had  unshipped.  The  visit  to  the  hacienda 
therefore  was  all  the  more  imperative.  These  were  the  days  that  had 
wellnigh  broken  Amy's  heart.  He  thought  often  of  her  anxiety,  but 
he  could  not  help  her.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done ;  he  could  only 
hope  for  the  best. 

There  was  something  revivifying  in  the  air  of  the  higher  levels 
and  in  having  to  use  his  powers  of  strategy,  and  he  began  to  improve 
at  once.  He  reached  the  vicinity  of  Las  Delicias,  concealed  himself  a 
part  of  the  day  in  the  Pedregal,  or  lava-field,  and  went  at  night  to  look 
for  his  letter.  He  was  right  in  supposing  Amy  would  go  often  to  the 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  57 

trysting-place  under  such  unusual  circumstances.  He  found  a  letter 
from  her,  full  of  alarm  at  the  prolonged  rupture  of  communications. 
For  the  rest,  besides  the  collected  news  from  New  York,  she  gave  him 
some  of  the  uneventful  gossip  of  the  hacienda. 

"  I  told  you  all  of  it  before,"  she  said,  "  in  the  letter  I  left  for  you 
a  long  time,  and  then  had  to  take  back,  because  you  did  not  come. 
Now  I  tell  you  again ;  perhaps  I  shall  have  to  take  this  back  also. 
There  is  little  to  say  about  our  quiet  life ;  you  could  almost  invent  it 
all  for  yourself.  But  it  may  interest  you  to  hear  that  our  exemplary 
friend  the  Jefe  Politico,  Senor  Don  Tomas  Corcovedo,  has  formally 
proposed  for  the  hand  of  Luz,  and  has  been  rejected.  You  would 
have  learned  it  from  my  former  letter,  for  it  happened  a  good  while 
ago.  Seflor  Corcovedo  has  shown  himself  very  indignant  in  conse 
quence,  and  has  tried  to  be  disagreeable  in  various  ways.  I  hear  that 
he  has  let  fall  to  the  General  grumbling,  half-threatening  expressions 
about  people  who  are  lukewarm  in  their  devotion  to  the  government. 
But  this  surely  could  not  have  been  intended  for  our  dear  General ;  for 
nobody  is  more  truly  patriotic  than  he. 

"  But  why  do  I  talk  of  other  things  ?  Where  are  you  ?  what  has 
happened  ?  I  come  to  look,  so  often,  and  find  nothing.  Am  I  wrong 
to  be  so  oppressed  and  anxious  ?" 

Walter  replaced  it  with  his  own,  as  on  a  former  occasion,  adding  a 
few  words  to  the  effect  that  he  would  not  go  at  once,  but  would  try  to 
wait  about  to  receive  some  little  further  communication  from  her.  He 
found  the  ancient  corral,  that  had  been  Trinidad  Josh's,  deserted,  and 
took  refuge  there  for  the  night.  There  would  have  been  an  excellent 
view  of  the  memorial  cross,  in  the  morning,  from  behind  its  low  ram 
bling  walls,  except  that  a  number  of  yellow  straw-stacks  were  scattered 
over  the  space  between,  the  faces  of  some  of  them  rudely  sculptured, 
after  a  not  unusual  custom,  into  bas-reliefs  of  saints. 

He  saw  Amy  go  by  from  a  distance,  however,  with  a  group  of  the 
family  about  her.  The  children  sported  in  advance,  and  with  the  elders 
among  others  was  Sister  Beatrix.  How  his  heart  beat  as  Amy  went  by  ! 
He  fancied,  from  his  remoteness,  she  looked  pale.  She  leaned  on  the 
arm  of  Sefiora  del  Prado,  too,  as  if  she  were  not  very  strong. 

"  Can  it  be  in  any  degree  on  my  account?"  he  wondered.  "  If  so, 
she  is  soon  to  be  reassured." 

The  company  remained  an  hour  or  more, — it  was  a  pleasant  rural 
spot  where  they  might  well  enough  pass  a  little  time,  though  it  in  no 
way  compared  with  the  garden, — and  then  he  watched  them  on  their 
return.  As  soon  as  the  coast  was  entirely  clear,  he  slipped  out,  and, 
shielding  himself  behind  one  straw-stack  after  the  other,  daringly  risk 
ing  detection,  went  and  inspected  the  depository. 

Nothing.  He  hid  again  in  the  corral,  hoping  she  might  make 
another  visit  in  the  afternoon,  but  looking  once  more  in  the  evening, 
and  yet  again  in  the  morning,  he  still  found  nothing.  He  thought  she 
had  not  been  able  to  secrete  an  answer  before  her  companions  in  the 
first  instance,  nor  to  return  alone  in  the  second.  What  was  more 
natural  ?  But  now  he  could  wait  no  longer :  another  day  at  the  corral 
was  not  to  be  thought  of. 


58  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

Just  as  he  was  about  to  begin  his  de'tour  of  retreat,  he  saw  issuing 
from  the  principal  gates  of  Las  Delicias  a  numerous  cavalcade.  There 
were  armed  servants  commanded,  by  the  Caporal,  or  principal  herds 
man,  a  man  who  wore  a  red  handkerchief  about  his  head  in  bandit 
fashion  and  was  wont  to  claim  to  be  the  titular  cacique  of  some  ex 
tinct  tribe,  and  there  were  peons  carrying  the  implements  needed  to 
clear  the  road.  Mules,  bearing  provisions  for  the  company  for  some 
days,  had  the  name  of  the  hacienda  embroidered  on  the  broad  crupper- 
bands  in  bright  colors.  A  small  escort  of  the  leather-jacketed  Rurales, 
or  country  police,  furnished  by  the  Jefe  Politico,  was  also  in  attendance, 
whose  arms  and  silver  trappings  jingled  as  they  rode. 

In  the  midst  were  seen  General  del  Prado,  Amy,  Luz,  Dofia 
Beatriz,  the  Sefioritas  Arroyo,  and  some  other  persons  of  note  from  the 
town. 

Several  of  the  party  wore  such  badges  as  were  used  on  the  occasion 
of  the  pilgrimage  to  El  Jasmin.  Walter  bethought  him  that  this  was 
the  date  of  it.  If  it  were  a  pilgrimage  to  El  Jasmin  on  which  they 
were  bound,  then  let  him  turn  back  and  pause  a  little  in  his  vague 
plan. 

He  discreetly  followed  their  course,  his  skill  in  wood-craft  standing 
him  in  good  stead.  Time  was  really  no  great  object  with  him  now ;  an 
opportunity  would  surely  present  itself,  on  such  an  excursion,  to  speak 
to  her,  and  many  things  could  be  settled  by  word  of  mouth  which 
could  not  be  by  a  fitful,  enigmatic  correspondence. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  FAMILY  BIDE  TO  EL  JASMIN. 

BUT  two  days  after  the  impulsive  disclosure  of  her  affection  for 
Walter,  Dofia  Beatriz  had  sought  at  the  .hacienda  to  disavow  it,  in  a 
passion  of  confusion  and  remorse. 

"  My  conscience  was  dead  to  every  consideration  that  should  have 
restrained  me  when  I  talked  so,"  she  said.  "  I  had  neither  self-respect 
nor  shame.  I  come  to  beg  you  to  think  no  more  of  it,  and  never  to 
breathe  a  word  of  it  to  any  other  person.  Does  he  know  ?" 

Amy  was  as  non-committal  as  possible,  to  save  her  feelings,  but  she 
had  to  admit  some  portion  of  what  had  taken  place. 

"  I  hoped  to  be  in  time,"  said  Beatriz,  with  a  quivering  sigh,  and 
flushing  deeply  red  in  her  sliamefaceduess.  "  It  is  a  part  of  my  pun 
ishment,  then,  that  he  knows.  I  must  never  see  him  again." 

She  shut  herself  up  for  a  long  time  after  this,  in  peculiarly  close 
seclusion,  keeping  away  from  all  those  she  had  known.  The  Arroyo 
ladies  she  naturally  avoided  most.  Thus  it  resulted  that  she  knew 
nothing  of  Walter's  departure  for  the  United  States.  Her  sincere 
effort  to  do  right  in  this  struggle  with  herself  was  shown  in  her  never 
making  any  inquiries  for  him.  It  was  only  by  accident  that  she  learned 
of  it,  and  soon  after  that,  the  two  older  Sisters,  her  companions,  began  to 
report  that  they.feared  her  health  would  give  out,  and  urged  her  forth 
to  take  more  exercise. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  59 

Then  she  occasionally  came  again  to  the  hacienda.  It  did  not  con 
sist  with  the  magnanimity  of  Amy  to  feel  the  jealousy  that  is  said  to 
be  entertained  by  women  who  are  rivals  for  the  affections  of  the  same 
man. 

"  Walter  has  traits  to  make  him  any  woman's  hero,"  she  said  :  "  he 
unites  strength  and  courage  with  physical  beauty,  a  generous  heart,  a 
frank  and  open  character,  and  a  considerate  nature.  He  is  a  man  such 
as  all  men  ought  to  be  when  the  race  is  perfected.  What  more  natural 
than  that  she  should  feel  so  ?  Besides,  what  claim  have  I  to  vaunt  my 
self  over  her  ?  We  are  both  in  the  hands  of  Providence,  which  will 
dispose  of  us  in  its  own  good  way." 

They  spoke  of  him  no  more ;  but  it  was  plain  to  Amy  whither  her 
companion's  fancies  often  wandered. 

The  trying  days  came  when  the  basin  by  the  glass  pavilion  no  longer 
bubbled.  As  each  one  passed  without  the  signal  it  was  to  Amy  as  if  a 
definite  portion  of  her  vitality  were  daily  subtracted.  She  would  go 
many  times  in  the  day  instead  of  one,  to  see  if  it  might  not  take  place 
at  some  different  hour.  She  got  Trinidad  Jos6  and  the  little  children 
also  to  watch  the  basin  for  her,  alleging  a  great  interest  in  the  bubbling 
as  a  phenomenon. 

As  often  as  she  deemed  it  safe,  and  oftener  too,  for  she  forgot  her 
prudence  in  her  anxiety,  she  went  to  the  place  of  deposit  for  letters. 

"  Why  do  you  go  so  much  to  the  cross  of  the  English  governess  ?" 
the  family  asked  her. 

"  Her  fate  interests  me,  and  the  walk  is  a  change  from  the  gardens, 
which  sometimes  seem  too  splendid,  and  there  are  plenty  of  maravillas 
[a  pretty  blue  wild  flower]  there." 

On  one  occasion  as  they — the  women  over  their  embroidery — sat  by 
the  basin  that  did  not  bubble,  the  Madre  said,  casually, — 

"  It  seems  a  long  time  since  Don  Walter  went  away :  he  is  an  ac 
quaintance  that  one  misses." 

Amy  could  hardly  forbear  crying  out,  "  He  is  dead  !  his  bones  are 
\vhitening  in  a  terrible  place !  Or  he  is  in  danger,  and  nobody  will 
help  him,  and  I  am  to  blame  because  I  will  not  tell  what  I  know !" 

It  was  the  tenth  day  since  the  basin  had  given  any  sign.  The 
effort  to  keep  back  the  agony  of  her  mind  was  growing  almost  impos 
sible.  She  was  continually  arguing  with  herself, — 

"  Surely  time  enough  has  now  been  allowed  to  go  by.  Why  did  he 
not  fix  an  exact  limit  ?  Now  I  will  write  to  Captain  Perez ;  but  no, 
what  horror  to  betray  his  plan  and  ruin  all,  if  there  should  be  no  need 
of  it !  A  dozen  things  that  could  not  have  been  foreseen  may  have 
taken  him  away.  Why  did  we  not  talk  more  fully  and  arrange  all 
that  in  advance?" 

The  lengthened  suspense  had  made  her  so  pale  and  wan  that  all 
noticed  it. 

"  You  are  not  well,"  said  the  General ;  "  you  are  not  keeping  up  to 
the  standard.  We  must  find  some  new  distraction  or  change  of  air  for 
you.  What  would  you  like  ?  Suppose  we  run  up  to  Mexico  for  a  few 
days." 

"  No,  no,"  she  protested,  in  a  panic :  "  I  am  perfectly  well." 


60  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  Then  we  might  ride  up  to  this  pilgrimage  at  El  Jasmin,  near  the 
Barranca  of  Cimarron.  The  anniversary  has  come  round,  and  the 
Madrecdta  here,"  slightly  mocking  at  the  opinions  of  his  wife,  "  will 
tell  you  that  it  is  a  very  important  occasion." 

Amy  brightened  at  the  mention  of  the  Barranca  of  Cimarron. 

"  Would  you  like  it?"  he  asked. 

"  Very  much,"  she  answered. 

That  would  be  life, — movement.  Anything  was  better  than  the 
torture  of  stagnation.  She  would  leave  Trinidad  Jos6  to  watch  the  bub 
bling  of  the  spring  for  her,  and  she  vaguely  hoped  if  she  approached  the 
Barranca  some  providential  way  of  hearing  from  him  might  be  found. 

It  had  been  talked  of  before.  Dona  Beatriz  and  her  companions 
had  desired  to  go  if  they  could  place  themselves  under  efficient  pro 
tection,  and  she  was  here  this  very  morning  to  learn  the  decision  of  the 
Sefiora.  The  General  being  thoroughly  enlisted,  it  required  no  long 
time  to  make  the  necessary  preparations.  Swift  messengers  were  de 
spatched  to  town,  to  do  what  was  needed  there,  and  all  was  got  ready 
for  an  early  start  next  morning.  As  the  group  went  back  through  the 
garden-mazes,  Amy  turned  almost  involuntarily  for  her  usual  walk  out 
through  a  side-gate  in  the  hedge.  One  and  then  another  of  them  de 
cided  to  accompany  her,  though  it  would  have  been  much  more  to  her 
liking  to  have  the  children  alone. 

Beatriz,  too,  had  noticed  her  devotion  to  the  walk,  and  even  her 
peculiar  proceedings  at  the  cross.  This  time,  while  Amy,  not  to  seem 
to  go  there  too  directly,  led  the  children  away  a  little  distance,  Beatriz, 
whether  out  of  pure  goodness  of  heart  and  desirous  to  be  first  in  deco 
rating  the  cross,  or  obeying  some  secret  suspicion,  went  to  it  before  her. 
The  cross  was  of  wood,  with  a  rude  canopy,  and  had  vines  running  up 
the  post,  on  which  hung  three  red  earthen-ware  pitchers. 

She  had  in  her  hand  a  bunch  of  the  beautiful  white  flowers  of  St. 
John.  She  was  about  to  put  them  in  the  largest  of  the  pitchers,  when, 
she  knew  not  by  what  extraordinary  intuition,  she  first  thrust  her  hand 
down  into  it.  A  crisp  paper  crackled  to  her  touch.  With  great  self- 
control,  she  gathered  it  up  with  her  white  nosegay,  which  she  carried 
then  by  a  natural  gesture  to  her  breast.  Acting  upon  a  second  thought, 
she  left  no  flowers  behind  her  in  the  pitcher  except  some  faded  ones 
already  there,  and  it  was  all  done  with  such  deft  rapidity  that  when 
Amy  turned  around  she  was  with  the  others  at  a  large  ceiba-tree,  and 
no  indication  of  what  she  had  done  remained. 

Amy's  own  visit  was  made  with  more  difficulty.  She  waited  a  good 
half-hour  before  she  could  feel  sufficiently  free  from  observation.  She 
looked  in.  Nothing  there.  That  was  singular,  for  she  recognized  with 
an  exulting  throb  that  her  own  had  gone.  Perhaps  Walter  had  been 
surprised  at  the  moment  of  effecting  the  exchange,  perhaps  he  had  been 
obliged  to  leave  his  missive  behind  him,  or  had  been  unable  to  write 
one  in  the  wanderings  in  which  he  might  now  be  driven  about.  She 
had  no  reason  to  suspect  anybody :  had  not  her  former  letters,  and  this 
one  too,  lain  there  week  in  and  week  out  undisturbed  ?  At  any  rate, 
hers  was  gone,  Don  Walter  had  it,  he  had  been  near  her,  she  \vas  re 
assured  as  to  his  safety,  and  in  tolerable  peace  of  mind  she  could  await 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  61 

the  clearing  up  of  the  rest.  She  was  no  longer  so  eager  for  the  expe 
dition,  but  no  pretext  could  now  be  found  for  abandoning  it.  As  for 
Dofia  Beatriz,  she  assured  herself,  singularly  moved, — 

"  Where  Amy  is,  he  will  not  be  far  distant." 

The  procession  moved  slowly  up  the  mountain.  Now  and  again 
there  was  a  halt  while  the  advance  made  some  parts  of  the  way  more 
practicable  for  ladies  than  they  had  been.  Walter  hung  on  the  skirts 
of  it,  but  the  opportunity  of  which  he  was  in  search  did  not  present 
itself  before  the  village  was  reached.  He  fell  back,  therefore,  to  await 
his  chance.  He  mingled  with  other  peasants  going  up.  In  the  course 
of  talk  with  them  he  became  sensible  that  there  was  an  uneasy  political 
feeling  in  the  air :  people  were  dreading  that  something  was  about  to 
happen,  they  hardly  knew  what  or  why.  The  government  at  Mexico 
was  committing  many  unwarranted  and  arbitrary  acts,  a  sign  of  weak 
ness  and  by  no  means  of  strength,  and  vague  rumors  of  revolution  came 
from  the  North. 

The  pilgrimage  church  of  El  Jasmin  had  a  few  arches  remaining 
of  what  had  once  been  a  beautiful  sculptured  gate- way.  It  had  perhaps 
been  established  where  it  was  as  a  counteracting  influence  to  pestilent 
local  superstitions,  and  especially  to  the  worship  of  a  serpent-idol  in  a 
large  cave  near  there. 

It  stood  on  a  gentle  rise  of  ground,  facing  the  plaza,  and  there  was 
attached  to  it  a  chapter-house,  or  kind  of  sacred  hostelry,  for  the  ac 
commodation  of  pilgrim  guests.  In  this  last  a  few  camp-beds,  that  had 
been  brought  for  the  more  delicate  travellers,  were  set  up,  while  the 
hardy  were  fain  to  be  content  with  spreading  their  blankets  and  some 
disused  carpets  on  the  brick  floor.  The  long  rooms  had  scarce  any 
other  furniture,  save  very  dark  old  paintings  which  it  had  not  been 
thought  worth  anybody's  while  to  take  away. 

The  glimpse  of  a  half-mediaeval  life  she  had  at  this  place  would 
have  charmed  Amy,  if  her  anxiety  had  suffered  her  to  take  her  usual 
interest  in  such  things.  As  it  was,  there  was  need  of  all  its  strange 
ness  to  make  it  a  distraction.  Sometimes  she  looked  on  at  the  pilgrims 
in  their  devotions,  sometimes  rode  with  Don  Angel  short  distances 
round  about, — her  fancy  galloping  faster  than  the  steed  towards  the  un 
attainable  Barranca  of  Cimarron, — and  sometimes  strolled  with  Beatriz 
a  little  into  the  village  street.  The  men  of  the  village  were  highly 
respectful  to  all  those  who  wore  the  insignia  of  pilgrimage,  and  most 
of  the  women  and  girls  were  taking  part  in  it  themselves. 

Don  Walter  took  up  a  lodging  in  a  wattled  hut,  furnished  only  with 
a  few  large  earthen  jars  and  a  charcoal-fireplace  in  the  centre,  and  slept 
on  mats  like  any  peasant.  For  some  reason,  the  religious  observances 
were  much  better  attended  this  year  than  usual.  Delegations  of  In 
dians,  in  their  distinctive  local  dress,  were  present  from  a  number  of 
remote  points.  Walter  prowled  among  them,  looking  from  a  distance 
at  his  nearest  friends  and  connections,  like  one  from  the  dead.  He 
came  inadvertently  upon  Amy  and  Beatriz  face  to  face,  as  they  were 
issuing  together  from  behind  the  sculptured  arches.  Changed  though 
he  was  by  long  exposure  in  the  caflon  and  by  his  disguise,  Dofia  Beatriz 
recognized  him  at  once. 


62  THE  YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  Don  Walter !"  she  exclaimed,  with  an  impulsive  cry.  "  Don 
Walter,  it  is  you?" 

"  I  call  myself  Ignacio  Gomez.  There  is  some  mistake  here.  I 
am  in  search  of  cattle  that  have  strayed  in  these  parts,"  he  responded, 
endeavoring  to  retreat. 

"  No,  no,  you  are  Don  Walter  :  I  cannot  be  mistaken.  You  have 
not  gone  to  the  North  :  you  are  here  and  in  hiding.  Perhaps  you  are 
in  trouble  and  danger.  Oh,  can  I  not  help  you  ?" 

"  Do  you  not  see  that  this  good  man  is  a  mere  peasant  ?  What  a 
singular  idea  you  have  got  in  your  head  !"  said  Amy  to  her,  severely. — 
"  Do  not  be  offended  with  us,  good  friend :  my  companion  here  some 
times  likes  to  talk  at  random."  And  she  took  her  gently  by  the  arm  to 
draw  her  away. 

She  checked  her  own  feelings  with  wonderful  calmness,  in  order  to 
protect  him. 

But  one  of  the  painful  thoughts  by  which  Walter  immediately 
began  to  be  troubled  was  that  she  also  had  not  recognized  him.  He 
had  clearly  seen  the  surprise  dawn  and  grow  on  her  face.  The  intuition 
of  Beatriz  was  the  quicker.  They  separated,  but  it  is  certain  that  all 
looked  forward  to  another  interview  that  might  gratify  the  special  desire 
of  each. 

Sister  Beatriz,  struggling  with  a  strange  mixture  of  motives,  being 
there  partly  to  pray  against  her  own  weakness  and  partly  drawn  on  by 
her  heart,  would  not  absent  herself  from  the  presence  of  Amy. 

The  second  day  of  their  stay  was  coming  to  its  close :  they  were  to 
leave  on  the  morrow,  and  Walter  had  made  no  progress.  He  called  to 
him  an  Indian  woman,  bearing  a  jar  of  water  on  her  head. 

"  Amiguita,  there  are  some  Sisters  of  Charity  over  there,  or  Sisters 
of  some  kind  or  other,"  said  he  to  her.  "  You  have  a  great  deal  of 
respect  for  them,  have  you  not,  though  the  government  treats  them  so 
roughly  ?" 

"Yes,  indeed  I  have,"  replied  the  woman,  sturdily. 

"  And  you  would  like  to  hold  some  improving  conversation  with 
them,  would  you  not?" 

"  Yes,  I  would  like  that  too ;  but  they  can't  be  expected  to  pay 
much  attention  to  such  as  I." 

"  I  think  it  would  have  a  good  effect  upon  your  soul's  salvation.  I 
am  so  anxious  to  have  you  enjoy  this  benefit  that  I  will  give  half 
a  dollar  if  you  will  go  and  select  the  handsome  young  Sister  sitting 
on  the  bench  yonder  at  the  door  of  the  chapter-house  and  engage  her 
in  talk  for  ten  minutes.  I  will  double  the  amount  if  you  make  it 
fifteen." 

"  They  have  no  worldly  ideas.  Well,  you  are  a  forward  one,  you 
are." 

"  That's  it,  that's  it :  I  see  you  understand  what  I  mean,"  in  a 
hearty  confidential  way.  "  This  is  a  perfectly  straight  affair." 

The  woman  was  puzzled,  but  there  was  the  silver  awaiting  her,  and 
even  a  portion  of  it  already  in  her  hand  as  an  earnest. 

"  At  the  same  time,  if  the  moment  you  begin  to  talk  to  her  you 
carefully  drop  this  note  in  the  lap  of  the  lady  sitting  next  to  her, — the 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  63 

one  with  the  bright  hair, — that  is  another  dollar.  You  see,  I  can  afford 
it,  as  I  act  for  somebody  else.  Who  it  is  makes  no  difference  either  to 
you  or  me.  These  comfortable  caballeros  can  pay  well  for  their  non 
sense." 

The  woman  went  and  set  down  her  jar,  reappeared  with  a  small 
tray  of  fruit,  and  proceeded  on  her  mission.  Amy  was  presently  aware 
of  a  robust  Indian  woman  in  reboso  and  petticoat  of  the  blue  stuff 
woven  in  the  place  pushing  almost  rudely  between  her  and  Dofia 
Beatriz  and  addressing  some  affecting  appeal  for  sympathy  to  the 
latter.  At  the  same  moment  a  note  fell  in  her  lap.  It  was  of  about 
the  following  purport : 

"  Can  the  Seilorita  see  for  a  moment  the  poor  man  she  has  some 
times  aided,  who  speaks  a  little  English  ?  He  is  at  the  bells,  and  they 
are-  easily  reached  by  passing  through  the  house  and  out  the  main  door 
of  the  church." 

Amy  slipped  within  on  the  instant.  Beatriz  was  detained  behind 
by  the  mystery  in  the  woman's  manner  and  then  by  a  persistence  that 
amounted  almost  to  force. 

The  bronze  bells  of  the  quaint  rococo  church  had  been  taken  down 
from  their  tower,  which  had  been  ruined  by  an  earthquake,  and  set  up 
temporarily  in  a  low  rustic  pavilion.  Walter  was  there. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  PASSION  OF  DOSfA  BEATRIZ  DE  RIVERA. 

"  How  worn  and  ill  you  look  !"  said  Amy  at  once  on  greeting  him. 
"  Is  it  real,  or  only  a  part  of  your  disguise  ?" 

"  Some  of  it  may  be  real — but  let  us  not  talk  of  that ;  time  is  too 
short :  let  us  talk  of  yourself."  He  was  looking  at  her  with  timidity 
and  misgiving,  aided  by  the  effect  of  the  poor  peasant  attire  he  wore,  to 
see  if  perchance  he  might  divine  some  results  from  the  confession  he 
had  made  her. 

"  Pobre  /" — using  the  Spanish  word  of  sympathy,  caught  up  famil 
iarly  from  her  companions, — "  no,  we  must  talk  of  you.  Oh,  what  a 
strange  way  to  meet !  Tell  me  at  least  that  you  have  been  successful, 
that  all  is  going  well." 

"  No,  at  present  it  is  going  very  ill ;  the  end  seems  put  off  to  a  very 
long  time,"  he  said,  with  the  despair  of  failure  in  his  heart.  "  It  was 
for  that  I  wanted  to  see  you,  to  arrange  for  the  future,  to  make  some 
new  little  plan  of  action." 

"  But  you  speak  of  failure  and  of  these  millions  you  have  gained  in 
the  same  breath  ?"  she  said,  repeating  the  figures  he  gave  her,  and  catch 
ing  at  this  as  something  tangible.  "  The  amount  is  one  that  makes  my 
poor  brain  dizzy.  It  is  already  a  magnificent  success." 

"  It  is  a  mere  drop  in  the  bucket,"  he  rejoined,  bitterly,  after  his 
usual  way  of  looking  at  it.  "Surely  the  state  of  affairs  and  the 
reasoning  presented  in  my  letter  can  have  made  but  little  impression 
upon  you." 

Thus  the  letter  came  to  be  spoken  of,  and  its  loss  was  discovered. 


64  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

Amy  raised  her  small  hand  to  her  forehead  in  a  gesture  of  conster 
nation.  As  is  a  common  experience,  they  could  not  at  once  verify  the 
exact  date  and  fix  all  the  attending  circumstances  through  which  it 
might  have  been  accounted  for.  With  Walter  there  was  one  redeeming 
feature  in  it.  He  had  felt  a  little  involuntary  resentment  when  she 
tried  to  comfort  him  by  representing  his  defeat  as  victory,  and  he  was 
glad,  after  all,  the  confession  had  not  reached  her.  He  experienced 
a  proud  revulsion  of  feeling  on  the  whole  subject,  and  something  more 
of  his  self-esteem  returned  to  him,  now  that  she  did  not  know  who  he 
was  and  to  what  tragic  history  he  was  bound. 

"  Yes,  as  events  have  turned  out,  it  will  be  best  that  nothing  of  it 
should  ever  be  known  till  success  is  certain,"  he  mentally  decided. 

Still,  the  letter  had  gone  astray,  and,  though  unsigned  and  in  some 
respects  enigmatic,  there  was  no  telling  what  new  element  of  danger 
might  not  be  involved  in  its  loss. 

While  they  were  still  animatedly  discussing  the  loss  of  the  letter, 
the  Indian  fruit-seller  came  around  the  corner  and  sent  Walter  a  shrill 
warning  in  the  form  of  a  snatch  from  a  ballad. 

"  Time  is  passing,  time  up,"  she  sang :  "  those  who  do  not  buy  my 
fruits  when  they  are  ripe  may  regret  them  when  they  are  withered." 

"  Where  next — where  next  can  we  meet  ?"  demanded  Walter.  "  Is 
there  no  way  ?  In  another  moment  we  may  be  watched,  interrupted." 

"  I  can  think  of  only  one  plan.  I  might  come  down  to  the  church 
very  early  in  the  morning,  even  before  the  devotees,  and  pretend  to  be 
one  of  them.  You  could  kneel  near  me,  and  we  could  talk  in  English 
without  appearing  to  be  communicating  with  each  other." 

"  Then,  quick  !  to-morrow,  if  you  will :  I  shall  be  there  even  be 
fore  daylight."  And  they  parted. 

His  messenger  followed  him  to  claim  her  reward.  Afterwards, 
she  went  and  talked  about  him  to  an  arriero,  Perfecto  Ponce,  whom 
we  have  briefly  seen  as  the  friend  and  critic  of  Antonio  Gassol  in  the 
first  chapter.  This  man  had  come  up  among  the  bands  of  pilgrims. 

"  Is  he  one  of  the  schoolmates  ?  Does  he  know  the  time  of  day, 
since  he  does  such  peculiar  things  ?"  she  asked,  in  mysterious  phrase 
ology. 

"  I'm  not  quite  sure  that  he  is  of  the  society,"  replied  the  other, 
equally  obscure.  "  We  must  look  him  up ;  we  must  keep  an  eye  on 
him." 

Afterwards  who  should  come  up  to  Walter  but  his  old  servant,  the 
dismissed  Pablo !  This  fellow,  so  stupid  otherwise,  had  some  animal- 
like  scent  for  identities,  and  began  to  peer  at  him  in  the  same  investi 
gating  way  as  before. 

"  You  look  like  a  better  man,"  said  he,  suddenly,  meaning  no  doubt 
to  test  him. 

"  I  wish  I  could  say  as  much  for  you,  my  friend,  though  we  are  all 
made  in  God's  image  and  likeness.  You  will  find  that  in  your  cate 
chism." 

Walter  thoroughly  understood  the  ways  and  speech  of  the  lower 
class,  and  could  adapt  himself  to  them  at  need  in  humorous,  rollicking 
fashion.  He  had  a  gift  of  mimicry,  too,  with  which  in  gay  moods  he 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  65 

would  amuse  his  friends,  and  he  drew  upon  this  in  disguising  his 
voice. 

Pablo  was  apparently  puzzled,  but  not  convinced.  But  twilight 
was  drawing  on,  and  at  this  moment,  from  under  the  wide  curtain 
draping  the  main  door-way  of  the  church,  issued  forth  the  saint's  pro 
cession,  which  was  the  main  feature  of  the  festival.  A  large  female 
figure,  in  black  velvet  gown,  silver-adorned,  with  joined  hands  and  a 
tearful,  pleading  expression,  was  carried  around  the  plaza  on  a  plat 
form  amid  a  multitude  of  attendants  with  lighted  candles.  She  tottered 
under  the  unsteady  motion  of  the  shoulders  that  bore  her,  and  the  coun 
tenance,  looking  down,  had  a  very  real  and  human  aspect. 

Amid  such  a  melee,  for  they  were  near  the  front,  it  was  not  difficult 
to  slip  away,  and  for  the  morrow  he  made  some  further  changes  in  his 
personal  appearance. 

He  was  in  the  church  at  the  very  first  gray  of  morning.  Amy  did 
not  come  down  for  a  long  time.  He  grew  impatient,  alarmed.  The 
sky  was  pink  instead  of  gray,  and  their  last  opportunity  was  passing. 

"  I  could  not  get  away  before  without  arousing  suspicion,"  she  said, 
when,  panting  with  haste,  she  finally  appeared.  "  Luz,  her  mother,  and 
Beatriz  were  in  the  same  room  with  me ;  some  of  them  were  awake, 
and  I  had  to  wait  till  they  slept  again.  I  doubt  if  Dofia  Beatriz  had 
slept  all  night ;  and  you  saw  yesterday  how  quick  she  is  to  penetrate 
one's  plans." 

"  Could  it  be  anything  more  than  quickness  ?"  queried  Walter,  and 
they  returned  to  the  subject  of  the  letter  gone  astray. 

Amy  repudiated  the  idea.  They  could  discuss  nothing  thoroughly, 
but  dashed  from  one  topic  to  another.  Walter  repeated  hurriedly  the 
same  account  of  events  in  the  caflon  which  he  had  before  written,  and 
then  spoke  of  the  uncertain  future. 

"  Do  not  look  any  more  for  the  regular  bubbling  of  the  spring,"  said 
he.  "  I  have  told  you  of  my  present  plan,  and  there  is  no  saying 
henceforth  where  I  shall  be  or  what  I  shall  do.  Nor  will  it  do  to 
trust  to  letters  again." 

"And  I  shall  not  hear  from  you?     You  will  disappear  utterly?" 

"  If  my  new  attempt  does  not  succeed,  perhaps  I  shall  soon  reap 
pear  in  my  own  person ;  concealment  would  be  no  longer  of  any  use. 
But  I  will  try  to  find  some  means  of  keeping  you  in  mind  of  me.  It 
may  be  possible  to  use  a  messenger.  By  those  whom  it  is  delightful 
to  remember  we  do  not  wish  to  be  forgotten." 

Amy  was  burning  to  tell  him  feelingly  of  her  sympathy  and  dis 
tress  for  him  in  his  hardships,  her  warm  belief  in  his  final  triumph, 
and  her  desire  to  be  patient  and  strong  for  his  sake,  but  it  was  too 
late ;  people  came  and  interrupted,  and  Walter  went  away  with  a  little 
impression  of  coldness  on  her  part.  The  horses  were  already  stamping 
without,  and  he  overheard  Don  Angel  summon  her  with  boyish  im 
patience,  saying, — 

"Well,  are  you  not  ready?  The  sun  is  half  an  hour  high:  we 
ride  early  here  in  the  tropics,  and  we  must  be  off." 

The  Arroyo  ladies  were  among  the  other  worshippers  by  this  time, 
and  it  seemed  to  him  he  could  not  escape  detection  should  those  familiar 
VOL.  XLIL— 5 


66  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

eyes  fall  upon  him.  To  avoid  them,  he  went  out  by  a  small  door 
through  which  the  flaming  eastern  heavens  could  be  seen  above  the 
vegetation  of  a  court-yard.  His  investigations  had  already  shown  him 
there  was  an  exit  to  a  lane.  Around  the  court-yard  was  an  arcade  of 
the  usual  sort,  and  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  stuccoed  walls,  stained  lees- 
of-wine  color,  was  a  small  belvedere. 

Dofla  Beatriz,  who  might  just  have  come  in  or  might  have  been 
obscured  by  a  column,  glided  into  the  cloister  after  him,  and,  touching 
his  arm,  addressed  him  in  a  most  agitated  way.  As  before,  he  was 
disposed  to  deny  his  identity,  but  she  persisted. 

"  Do  not  be  afraid  of  my  betraying  you,"  she  said.  "  I  am  prudent. 
I  pass  my  whole  time  here  only  in  praying  for  your  welfare  and  safety  ; 
could  I  then  be  capable  of  endangering  you  ?  You  have  trusted  your 
secret  to  her ;  oh,  I  beseech  you,  let  me, — who  would  do  so  much  more 
for  you,  who  would  give  my  heart's  blood  for  you, — let  me  also  have 
some  share  in  serving  you." 

"This  from  you,  Sister  Beatriz?" 

"  It  cannot  be  wholly  a  surprise  to  you,  for  Amy  has  told  you  of 
my  feelings." 

"  She  has ;  but  I  could  not  find  it  in  my  heart  to  believe  it  of 
Dofla  Beatriz,  whom  I  have  always  looked  upon  as  the  sweetest  and 
most  perfect  of  saints." 

"  Call  me  saint  and  perfect  no  longer,  unless  it  be  saintly  to  wor 
ship  an  earthly  hero  and  type  of  gallant  boldness  who  well  deserves  it. 
I  am  changed  ;  your  words  have  sunk  deeply  into  my  mind  :  I  believe 
nothing  or  everything  just  as  you  would  have  it.  I  belong  no  more 
to  the  religious  life,  and  in  the  great  world  what  can  I  do  if  you  are 
not  with  me?" 

"  Tell  me,  Dofla  Beatriz,"  said  her  companion,  gently,  touched, — 
as  what  man  could  fail  to  be  by  such  an  all-pervading,  uncalculating 
affection? — "how  you  knew  I  had  confided  my  secret  to  Dofla  Amy?" 

She  blushed  with  the  ingenuousness  of  one  little  used  to  duplicity, 
yet  replied,  boldly, — 

"  I  found  the  letter  at  the  cross  of  the  English  governess.  I  did 
not  know  what  or  from  whom  it  was  at  first,  but  I  suspected.  It  was 
not  till  I  heard  you  declare  yourself  Ignacio  Gomez  that  it  was  all  clear 
to  me  beyond  a  doubt." 

"  And  you  openly  avow  that  you  took  a  letter  that  was  not  yours 
and  did  not  return  it  even  when  you  knew  to  whom  it  belonged  ?" 

"  There  was  one  excellent  reason  why  I  did  not  return  it,"  she  per 
sisted.  "  No,  I  could  not.  My  heart  bled  for  you  on  divining  that 
confession.  I  could  not  bear  that  you  should  humiliate  yourself  before 
her.  Dear  Don  Walter,  you  are  too  high  and  noble  to  be  an  object 
of  condescension  to  any  one  in  the  world." 

Walter  winced  before  this  commendation,  this  touching  of  the  sore 
spot  even  by  such  as  she. 

"  As  for  me,"  Dofia  Beatriz  went  on,  "  it  brings  you  but  the  nearer 
to  me.  This  painful  secret  needs  no  apology  for  me  :  to  know  you  have 
suffered  makes  you  only  the  dearer." 

Surely  here  was  a  strong  appeal ;  there  was  a  great  sense  of  rest  to 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  $7 

him  in  knowing  his  secret  shared  and  yet  no  odium  falling  upon  him 
on  account  of  it ;  but  more  was  to  follow. 

"  You  have  suffered  her  to  aid,  and  yet  it  was  I  who  was  far  the 
stronger.  Listen,  dearest  Don  Walter :  you  are  in  want  of  very  great 
resources ;  I  now  know  the  reason  why.  Well,  I,  even  I,  might  give 
them  to  you.  If  I  could  command  a  treasure  sufficient  for  all  your 
needs,  would  you  share  it  with  me  ?" 

"  Does  all  the  world  think  of  nothing  else  but  treasure?"  he  cried, 
as  if  this  were  only  a  kind  of  spectre  conjured  by  her  out  of  his  own 
thoughts.  "  And  you,  poor  Sister  Beatriz,  what  have  you  to  do  with 
such  things  ?"  He  looked  at  her  commiseratingly,  and  began  to  doubt 
her  sanity. 

"  It  is  in  my  power,  poor  and  weak  as  you  think  me.  Nobody  can 
hear  us :  I  speak  of  the  treasure  of  my  convent,  buried  securely  away 
against  the  greed  of  the  selfish  men  who  would  have  robbed  us  of  that 
as  of  everything  else." 

She  no  doubt  saw  his  face  change,  and  went  on  hurriedly,  ardently, 
as  if  she  saw  him  yielding :  "  I  trust  you  at  once,  though  no  one  else 
knows  it :  I  can  have  no  fear  of  you.  It  is  close  by  the  spot  you 
cleared  for  us  in  our  old  garden  of  Santa  Rosa.  It  is  buried  in  the 
foundation-wall,  and  made  a  part  of  it,  so  that  they  might  dig  the 
whole  place  over  and  never  find  a  trace  of  it." 

"  Is  it  yours  to  give,  Dofia  Beatriz  ?" 

Again  she  flushed  most  deeply.  "  To  use  it  for  your  mission  would 
be  right,"  she  replied.  "To  whom,  indeed,  does  it  really  belong?  It 
can  never  again  be  used  for  the  religious  purposes  for  which  it  was 
designed.  The  survivors  of  the  convent — who  are  very  few — have  no 
right  to  use  it  in  luxurious  living,  even  if  their  inclinations  did  not 
forbid.  If  it  be  seized  it  will  not  go  to  the  service  of  the  state,  but  to 
feed  individual  rapacity.  Then  to  what  better  end  than  the  one  you 
have  in  view  is  it  ever  likely  to  be  devoted  ?  Take  me  with  you,"  she 
pleaded.  "  You  have  always  been  so  good  to  me,  I  belong  to  you  and 
not  to  myself." 

Walter  was  convinced  that  her  statement  was  true :  many  small 
circumstances  from  the  past  wove  themselves  together  to  strengthen  the 
conviction.  It  needed  a  strong  motive,  indeed,  to  resist  so  dazzling 
a  temptation.  Nor  was  it  purely  mercenary,  for  the  charms  of  Dofia 
Beatriz  were  great,  and  one  could  foresee  how  she  would  develop  under 
freedom,  which  she  would  enjoy  with  the  zest  of  an  escaped  bird,  and 
but  now  he  had  thought  Amy  cold.  But  motive  somewhere  there  was 
that  gained  the  victory  even  over  so  many  combined  allurements.  A 
crippled  beggar,  from  the  church-door,  here  shuffled  up  closer  to  them, 
asking  for  alms.  Walter  motioned  him  away,  and  they  two  moved 
somewhat  farther  on,  in  the  cloister. 

"  I  cannot  share  it  with  you ;  I  cannot  take  it,"  he  responded. 
"  Give  up  these  strange  ideas,  and  be  again  the  unworldly  little  Beatriz 
I  have  always  liked." 

"  You  cannot  take  it !  Oh,  I  felt  it  would  be  so.  But  tell  me  why, 
why  ?"  she  besought. 

A  worse  man  would  perhaps  have  been  kinder  on  the  surface,  but 


68  THE  YELLOW  SNAKE. 

Walter  was  master,  even  in  such  a  case,  of  some  of  that  Spartan  firm 
ness  which  fits  one  for  great  things. 

"  It  is  best  to  say  it  plainly :  to  accept  it,  I  ought  to  love  you,"  he 
replied ;  "  and,  while  I  admire  and  esteem  you  most  warmly, — as  no 
man  could  help  doing, — I  do  not  love  you." 

She  bent  as  if  before  a  heavy  blow,  covering  her  face  a  moment 
with  both  hands. 

"  There  are  those  who  hate  if  they  are  not  loved,"  she  said,  with  a 
touching  pathos,  after  commanding  herself  again.  "  I  am  not  one  of 
them.  I  can  never  wish  to  be  revenged,  nor  think  bitterly  of  you. 
Then  take  it  without  me.  I  can  die.  It  shall  never  be  said  I  imposed 
myself  as  a  condition  upon  a  means  that  may  secure  your  happiness." 

Walter  advanced  towards  her  to  take  her  hands  and  speak  some 
kinder,  more  reassuring  words.  But  at  this  time,  though  the  sky  was 
blue  and  the  sun  bright,  a  strange,  calamitous  wind  arose.  The  belve 
dere  above  the  wall  toppled  into  the  court  with  a  crash ;  the  ground 
swayed  and  oscillated  beneath  their  feet,  and  in  some  places  was  seen 
to  open :  one  of  the  most  severe  earthquakes  known  in  that  district  for 
years  had  ensued. 

"  It  is  a  judgment,"  cried  Beatrix,  who  seemed  stricken  by  a  mortal 
terror.  "  The  voice  of  heaven  has  spoken  against  me." 

Walter  had  to  look  on  from  a  distance  at  the  departure  of  Amy 
like  the  merest  stranger.  He  saw  that  she  had  come  to  no  harm.  The 
company,  recovering  from  their  panic,  more  in  haste  to  be  off  than  ever, 
went  away  in  a  somewhat  disorderly  manner,  many  very  anxious  to  see 
if  any  damage  had  been  done  at  the  hacienda. 

In  the  shock  several  curious  things  had  happened.  The  cripple  in 
the  corridor  with  Beatriz  and  Walter,  for  instance,  had  shown  sur 
prising  .activity.  He  made  quite  a  normal  use  of  his  legs  thereafter, 
and  on  returning  to  Cuernavaca  reported  to  the  Jefe  Politico  that  Dofia 
Beatriz  had  talked  in  a  very  animated  way  with  a  man  who,  though 
wearing  peasant's  dress,  did  not  appear  to  be  a  peasant.  Upon  his 
heels  came  Pablo,  who  had  identified  this  peasant  as  the  same  one  he 
half  suspected  to  be  Don  Walter. 

"  Pooh !  pooh !  it  is  not  probable,"  scoffed  the  Jefe  Politico. 
"  Nevertheless,  we  will  keep  an  eye  out  for  these  birds  too." 

And  so  it  happened  that  if  the  first  remote  glance  of  scrutiny  began 
to  be  cast  towards  Walter's  own  treasure  it  was  because  Beatriz  had 
offered  him  hers. 

He  had  got  but  a  little  way  out  of  the  place,  in  starting  upon  a 
renewal  of  his  own  journey,  when  he  heard  rumors  that  the  disturbance 
had  been  particularly  violent  over  in  the  direction  of  the  Barranca  of 
Cimarron.  One  informant,  just  down  from  Huetongo,  said  he  had 
seen  a  mighty  column  of  smoke  arise  from  there  and  mount  a  pro 
digious  distance  into  the  air.  All  other  anxieties  were  swallowed  up 
in  the  thought  that  he  had  better  turn  back  and  look  to  the  safety  of 
the  property  left  behind. 

He  therefore  took  again  to  his  devious  routes.  But,  proceed  cau 
tiously  as  he  would,  he  met  a  number  of  people  prowling  about  in  this 
district  wont  to  be  so  lonely. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  QQ 

"Why  is  there  such  an  unusual  beating  of  the  woods  just  now?" 
he  asked,  entering  into  confidential  relations  with  one  of  them  near 
Huetongo. 

"  The  kidnappers  are  at  their  tricks  again.  Awhile  ago  they  car 
ried  oif  Kaufmann,  the  foreman  of  the  glass-works,  around  at  Lake 
Jornada,  and  a  reward  is  offered.  It  is  said  he  has  been  seen  over  this 
way  lately." 

"  If  Kaufmann  has  been  carried  off  he  keeps  very  cool  about  it," 
commented  Walter. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

CAPTAIN  PEKEZ  AND  HIS  REVOLUTION. 

ON  re-entering  the  cafton,  Walter  saw  at  once  that  a  cliff  near  his 
head-quarters  had  fallen.  It  might  have  been  from  this  that  the  great 
cloud  had  gone  up,  which  was  dust  rather  than  smoke. 

The  jar  had  acted  chiefly  along  the  central  line  of  the  chasm, 
opened  new  rents,  dried  up  the  bubbling  lava  of  La  Caldera,  shaken 
his  spring-house  to  ruin,  and  altered  the  aspect  of  the  travertine  basin 
and  terraces.  His  cliff-caverns,  with  their  treasure,  were  hardly  dis 
turbed. 

It  was  only  by  his  habitation,  still  intact,  that  he  could  recognize 
the  place  of  his  principal  labors.  What  a  wholesale  change  had  taken 
place  there !  The  central  cairn  was  toppled  over.  There  was  no 
longer  any  cold  spring.  There  was  no  more  any  hot  spring ;  or  at 
least  the  stream  that  now  existed  at  a  little  distance  could  not  be 
identified  with  the  flood  of  boiling  waters  that  used  to  surge  so  wildly 
around  the  spot. 

The  ever-rising  hope  in  Don  Walter's  breast  prompted  him  to  look 
again  to  see  if  the  Yellow  Snake  had  not  come  back  as  one  of  the 
vagaries  of  the  convulsion ;  but  nowhere  was  any  glint  of  its  dull 
golden  lustre  to  be  seen.  It  was  not  for  some  little  time  he  realized 
that  another  haunting  dream  of  his  had  actually  come  to  pass :  the  hot 
stream  was  turned  out  of  its  course.  Its  fierce  caloric  had  no  longer 
to  be  guarded  against.  There  lay  the  wreck  of  his  timber  barricades 
and  his  conduit ;  there  lay  the  flat  rock  on  which  the  Yellow  Snake 
had  been  wont  to  sun  itself,  free  and  open  now  to  whoever  would  ap 
proach.  Below  it  was  a  cavernous  depression  filled  with  irregular 
fragments  resembling  those  usually  found  in  the  vacant  bed  of  a  stream, 
some  blackened  with  slime,  others  party-colored  with  chemical  incrusta 
tions.  But  over  the  surface  could  be  made  out  certain  sinuous  lines 
and  vague  suggestions  of  shapes  that  caused  Don  Walter's  heart  to 
stand  still  for  a  moment,  then  to  beat  with  a  force  that  made  him  dizzy. 

He  clambered  down  to  the  spot.  It  hardly  needed  his  hammer  and 
acids  to  verify  what  he  found  there.  Everything  pointed  to  the  belief 
that  he  had  discovered  a  large  part,  at  least,  of  the  nuggets  formed  by 
all  the  past  plunging-over  of  the  golden  stream.  Let  the  Yellow 
Snake  go  now  without  a  thought,  for  here  was  its  progeny  in  limitless 
supply.  Never,  even  at  the  time  of  the  first  discovery,  had  Walter 
been  so  overcome.  The  possibility  that  he  might  secure  riches  for  him- 


70  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

self,  even  after  his  honorable  ambition  was  attained,  now  greeted  him. 
Figurations  seemed  to  dart  before  his  eyes.  He  fell  upon  his  knees 
in  a  mood  of  the  sincerest  piety. 

"  If  I  have  been  often  rebellious  under  the  scourging  hand  of 
heaven/'  he  prayed,  "  let  me  now  give  devout  thanks  and  the  most 
heart-felt  gratitude  when  it  is  so  good  to  me.  Hereafter  I  will  mend 
my  ways." 

In  two  days  he  was  able  to  take  out  enough  from  this  new  source 
to  complete  the  coveted  amount,  and  not  a  little  over.  From  each  of 
his  trips  to  the  caverns  he  brought  back  sections  of  dried  trees  and 
branches  and  threw  them  upon  the  deposit  to  give  an  appearance  of 
natural  wreckage.  The  bed  would  hardly  have  attracted  the  attention 
of  a  superficial  eye  as  it  was ;  but  he  wished  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure. 

The  evening  of  the  second  day,  he  thought  he  saw  armed  men  and 
horses  silhouetted  on  the  lofty  verge  of  the  Barranca,  like  the  gods  of 
Walhalla  riding  in  the  sky.  He  fancied  this  must  be  only  a  deceptive 
appearance  of  the  bushes,  as  before ;  but  this  time  it  was  a  portent  that 
was  to  be  corroborated  by  extraordinary  events. 

What  was  his  amazement,  on  returning  from  his  usual  mission  the 
following  day,  to  see  two  armed  men  in  the  caiion  on  the  very  field  of 
his  operations,  and  two  horses  picketed  at  a  little  distance !  One  of 
the  men  climbed  up  to  him  from  the  cavernous  bed  of  the  stream,  the 
other  appeared  from  behind  his  hut. 

He  recognized  the  first  as  Captain  Perez,  the  other  as  Antonio 
Gassol,  keeper  of  the  Alma  de  Mexico  restaurant  at  Cuernavaca. 

These  are  the  shocks  that  shorten  men's  lives ;  and  Walter  had  had 
so  many  of  them  crowded  into  his  late  experience  that  he  showed  clearly 
the  effects  of  the  rack  and  strain. 

Captain  Perez  advanced  towards  him  in  a  hearty  way  with  extended 
hand.  Walter  was  inclined  to  lay  his  own  upon  his  revolver  instead. 
He  drew  back  repellently,  and  kept  on  the  defensive. 

"  Ah,  you  do  not  like  our  intruding  ?"  said  the  Captain. 

"  Oh,  as  to  that,"  shrugging  his  shoulders,  "  we  don't  have  a  great 
many  visitors  here,  and  it  was  a  trifle  unexpected." 

He  felt  the  impolicy  of  his  conduct,  yet  had  been  too  flustered  and 
was  too  tremblingly  alive  to  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  at  stake  to 
have  adopted  any  other. 

"  So  you  are  not  in  the  United  States,  after  all  ?" 

"  Good-day,  Sefior  Arroyo !  We  do  not  see  you  often  at  the  Alma 
de  Mexico  nowadays,  Seflor  Arroyo,"  interrupted  Antonio  Gassol, 
coming  up  with  a  most  obsequious  politeness.  Walter  turned  fiercely 
towards  him. 

"  He  is  all  right,"  interposed  Perez,  assuming  a  confidential  relation. 
"  Antonio  is  one  of  those  persons  whom  it  is  perfectly  proper  to  trust." 

"  I  am  from  this  part  of  the  country,"  explained  Gassol ;  "  so  I 
return  once  in  a  while  to  see  how  my  native  village  is  getting  along. 
We  have  come  down " 

"  Yes,  to  see  if  we  could  get  some  sulphate  of  copper,  to  use  in  my 
arrastra  at  La  Fortuna,"  said  his  principal,  cutting  him  short.  "  I  pound 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  71 

out  a  few  dollars  from  the  ore  on  my  place  when  I  have  nothing  else 
to  do. — Antonio,  will  you  kindly  go  and  take  a  look  at  the  horses  ? 
The  roan  seems  to  have  tangled  himself  up  in  his  lariat." 

"  You  do  not  appear  surprised  to  find  me  here,"  said  Walter. 

"  I  make  it  a  rule  not  to  be  surprised.  So  many  remarkable  things 
are  always  happening,  I  have  left  myself  little  capacity  for  it.  You 
were  quite  mysterious  in  your  goings  and  comings  for  some  time,  then 
your  horse  turned  up,  giving  us  all  a  scare  lest  you  had  been  murdered, 
and  finally  I  learned  the  other  day  that  a  peasant  corresponding  to  your 
description  had  been  heard  earnestly  talking  English  with  the  fair 
American  of  the  hacienda  of  Las  Delicias.  I  put  this  and  that  together, 
and  made  up  my  mind  you  were  not  in  the  North  American  Republic, 
but  still  in  our  own.  I  did  not  know  where,  of  course ;  but  in  the  hut, 
just  now,  I  recognized  some  of  your  property, — pardon  me  for  entering 
it  without  permission,  but  I  thought  it  deserted, — and  presently  I  saw 
you  walking  towards  me  as  natural  as  life." 

Somewhat  confused  at  this  calm  way  of  taking  it,  Walter  muttered 
something  about  a  scientific  mission  that  had  had  no  great  results. 

"  Yes,  a  bright,  hard  metal  that  looks  even  finer  than  the  real  gold  ?" 
suggested  Perez. 

"  But  goes  off  chiefly  in  fumes  and  turns  out  to  be  only  sulphuret 
of  iron.  I  don't  mind  admitting  that  my  search  was  partly  for  treasure." 

"  And  again,  the  bluish  galena,  containing  silver,  but  in  too  small 
supply  to  be  worked,  and  then  the  yellow  grains  scattered  through  some 
of  the  limestone,  but  still  in  too  slight  quantities  to  pay  for  extraction  ?" 

"  How  do  you  know  all  that  ?" 

"  Bless  you,  I've  been  through  it  myself.  I  could  have  posted  you 
if  you  had  come  to  me.  You  may  not  recollect  my  telling  you  I  had 
been  here  once,  long  before  you  were  born.  But,  now,  how  about  this 
bed  close  by  ?  it  seems  to  contain  some  very  good  nuggets.  Are  they 
of  the  same  sort  as  those  I  noticed  on  the  shelves  in  your  cabin  ?" 

Walter,  in  fierce  agitation  and  resolve,  here  drew  forth  his  revolver 
without  further  hesitation.  The  secret  was  out :  he  was  betrayed. 

"  What  I  have  found  I  have  a  special  use  for.  I  cannot  give  it  up, 
nor  even  share  it.  If  you  have  come  here  with  design  upon  it,  let  us 
settle  it  once  for  all.  Do  you  take  your  pistol,  as  I  will  mine,  and 
stand  off  at  twelve  paces.  Gassol  will  make  as  good  a  second  as  an 
other.  Whatever  of  value  is  here  shall  belong  to  the  survivor." 

"  Have  you  then  no  more  confidence  in  me  than  this,  my  old  friend  ?" 
inquired  the  Captain,  showing  no  trace  of  resentment.  "You  who 
knew  my  devotion  to  you  should  have  treated  me  better." 

"  No,  not  in  such  an  affair.  I  feared  the  temptation  might  be  too 
great,  not  for  you  alone,  but  for  any  man.  I  had  an  object.  If  it  had 
been  an  ordinary  matter " 

"  But  it  is  precisely  in  extraordinary  matters  that  I  am  most  to  be 
trusted.  You  should  have  known  me  better  than  my  enemies.  What 
ever  else  I  have  done,  my  integrity  has  never  been  impeached.  In  all 
my  campaigning,  I  have  never  once  engaged  in  plunder.  A  man's 
virtues  are  much  according  to  his  temperament,  I  suppose ;  and  my 
weakness  does  not  lie  in  that  direction." 


72  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

Don  Walter  began  to  breathe  more  freely,  and  even  to  be  a  little 
ashamed. 

"See  here,  now,  what  claim  have  you  on  me?  What  service  did 
you  do  for  me  when  you  were  the  merest  kid?"  went  on  Perez,  with 
cordial  bluffness. 

"  I  don't  remember,"  answered  the  young  man,  evasively. 

"  Well,  I  will  remind  you.  I  was  a  captive  in  the  hands  of  my 
bitterest  foes,  who  were  taking  me  along  to  certain  execution.  They 
camped  over-night  alongside  the  ranch  where  you  lived  then  with  your 
father.  You  were  a  lad  and  allowed  to  run  freely  about  the  camp.  I 
asked  you  if  you  had  a  knife  and  could  cut  leather.  You  said  you  had, 
and  used  it  upon  the  thongs  with  which  I  was  bound, — I  feel  their 
infernal,  cramping  knots  now, — so  that  at  a  favorable  moment  I  was 
able  to  escape." 

"  It  was  no  trouble  to  me." 

"  But  it  was  a  way  of  sparing  me  such  a  very  considerable  trouble 
that  I  have  wanted  to  do  you  a  good  turn  ever  since.  Putting  you  in 
the  line  of  a  little  hunting  does  not  fill  the  bill.  Estimate  the  thing  as 
I  do.  Now,  here  you  are  in  a  difficult  and  dangerous  box,  perhaps 
even  more  dangerous  than  you  know :  let  me  help  you  out  of  it." 

His  hearer  struggled  with  a  lurking  doubt  whether  this  were  not, 
after  all,  only  a  specious  means  of  throwing  him  off  his  guard. 

"  I  put  myself  at  your  disposal  squarely,  honestly,  without  a  shadow 
of  reserve :  I  will  aid  you  to  the  best  of  my  ability  and  by  every  means 
in  my  power." 

"  I  am  conquered ;  I  am  overwhelmed  with  shame,"  said  Walter. 
"  I  trust  you  entirely.  Forgive  me !  And  see,  Perez,  what  I  have 
gained  here  is  destined  for  a  high  and  worthy  end,  in  which  my  enjoy 
ment  has  no  part,  but  after  that  end  is  accomplished  there  will  be 
something  over,  which  you  must  share.  And,  further  than  that,  much 
more  of  this  liberal  bounty  of  nature  still  remains,  to  become  available 
at  some  future  time." 

"  We  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  Believe  it  who  will,  money  has 
never  had  any  temptation  for  me,  and  it  is  now  too  late  to  change. 
Look  at  me :  what  I  most  wanted  in  youth  I  could  not  have,  and  after 

that Well,  suffice  it  to  say  I  am  a  rude  fellow,  and  at  present  I 

have  other  affairs.  You  may  hear  more  of  them  anon." 

"  You  knew  my  father,  and,  as  I  have  reason  to  think,  the  cause  of 
his  coming  here,"  said  Walter,  huskily.  "  Well,  I  want  to  pay  it  all 
back." 

"  I  did  not  ask  your  object.  I  was  willing  to  help  you,  no  matter 
what  it  was." 

To  Walter,  lonely  and  buffeted  about  as  he  had  been,  there  was  a 
blessed  relief  in  having  this  strong  shoulder  to  lean  upon ;  and  never 
was  he  to  have  any  reason  to  regret  the  confidence  he  now  bestowed. 

He  summed  up  the  vague  plans  he  had  thought  of  for  getting  the 
treasure  out  of  the  country,  feeling  only  the  more  clearly  how  hopeless 
it  would  have  been  for  him  to  attempt  it  alone.  In  answer  to  a  sug 
gestion  that  it  should  be  safely  buried  to  await  some  change  of  govern 
ment  that  might  be  more  favorable  to  them,  he  said, — 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  73 

"  I  haven't  a  •  single  moment's  peace  while  it  remains  in  Mexico. 
My  idea  is  that,  without  waiting  to  secure  any  more  at  present,  I  ought 
to  reappear  in  my  own  proper  person,  as  if  returned  from  my  trip,  and 
take  every  measure  to  get  it  to  the  United  States  at  once." 

"  To  the  United  States  ?  that  is  a  long  way.  Still,  I  suppose  a  ton 
or  two  of  the  commodity  might  be  run  through  to  the  coast." 

"  A  ton  or  two  ?  but,  my  dear  friend,  a  single  million  weighs  nearly 
two  tons,  and  I  have  over  six  millions.  There  will  be  freight  enough 
for  seventy  or  eighty  mules,  allowing  twelve  arrobas,  of  twenty-five 
pounds  each,  per  mule." 

"  Six  millions  ?  Well,  that  is  something,"  cried  the  Captain,  open 
ing  his  eyes  widely  at  the  unexpected  amount,  but  making  a  prodigious 
effort  to  hide  his  surprise.  "  In  fact,  it  is  a  very  pretty  sum.  And  all 
that  has  to  go  for  a  benevolent  object  ?  It  does  not  seem  treating  your 
self  quite  fairly.  If  it  had  been  my  case,  I  think  I  should  have  drawn 
off'  a  little  more  of  the  golden  milk  for  my  own  benefit." 

"  You  are  forgetting  that  the  supply  gave  out,  though  there  is  no 
telling  what  there  may  be  in  these  beds  beneath  us  yet.  I  may  have 
half  a  ton  or  so  extra  for  contingencies.  You  must  certainly  take  a 
liberal  share  of  this,  and  no  doubt  in  better  times  the  beds  can  be 
worked,  when  the  product  shall  be  as  much  yours  as  mine.  I  cannot 
tell  you  what  a  source  of  chagrin  it  is  to  me  now  not  to  be  able  to  offer 
you  one-half  of  the  whole." 

"  No  more  of  this,  my  boy.  Nothing  shall  be  deducted  from  the 
amount  except  for  necessary  expenses.  Take  your  treasure  for  which 
you  have  toiled  in  such  an  unheard-of  way  ?  not  I,  indeed  !" 

"  We  will  discuss  that  point  afterwards." 

"  It's  a  clear  case,"  said  Perez,  resuming  a  blunt,  peremptory 
manner ;  "  there  is  just  one  thing  to  be  done,  and  nothing  else.  We 
must  get  up  a  revolution." 

"  How  ?  A  revolution  ?"  protested  Walter,  in  complete  repugnance 
and  alarm. 

"  And  carry  it  away  under  cover  of  the  ensuing  difficulties." 

"  I  would  never  consent  to  anything  so  infamous  for  a  scheme  of 
private  advantage.  It  would  be  worse  than  to  lose  it  all." 

"  Well,  that  is  my  way ;  I  am  at  home  there,  and  speak  only  of 
what  I  know,"  rejoined  the  Captain,  coolly.  "  Why,  to  convoy  such  a 
train  of  animals  as  you  need  requires  a  regular  military  operation." 

l(  Say  no  more  :  it  can  never  be  done.  This  is  the  sort  of  morality 
that  might  have  justified  my  distrust  of  you,  Perez." 

"  Wait  a  little,  friend  Walter :  what  if,  instead  of  starting  a  revo 
lution,  we  found  one  already  made?" 

"How  can  that  be?     Please  explain." 

"  You  have  given  me  your  confidence,  and  I  will  give  you  mine, — 
just  as  sure  it  will  be  held  sacred.  Why  do  you  think  I  am  here  ?" 

"  One  might  guess  fifty  times  and  never  strike  it." 

"Ostensibly  to  look  for  Kaufman n,  the  abducted  foreman,  for 
whose  recapture  a  reward  has  been  offered,  but  really  to  see  what  kind 
of  place  this  would  be  for  keeping  out  of  sight  a  body  of  men  till  they 
were  wanted." 


74  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  If  Kaufmann  has  been  abducted  he  takes  it  very  easily,"  said 
Walter,  as  he  had  thought  before,  describing  his  adventure  with  that 
person  not  long  ago. 

"  To  be  sure  he  does  :  he  is  one  of  the  society, — one  of  our  college 
chums,  as  it  were.  His  disappearance  was  only  a  piece  of  diplomacy, 
and  he  has  his  work  to  do  elsewhere." 

Walter  gave  a  slight  whistle. 

"  It  kindles  still  more  the  flame  of  discontent  against  the  govern 
ment  at  Mexico,  on  the  ground  of  the  prevailing  lack  of  security  for 
person  and  property.  Though,  to  be  sure,  there  are  valid  complaints 
enough  without  inventing  them.  What  do  you  think  it  did  the  other 
day  ?  broke  into  Mr.  Wharton's  house,  at  the  capital,  and  took  from 
his  coffers,  though  they  were  under  the  seals  of  the  British  legation, 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Just  before  that,  their  general  at 
Tepic  seized  twenty  mule-loads  of  silver,  under  pretext  that  it  was  being 
clandestinely  exported.  Another  time  a  whole  conducta  of  two  mil 
lion  dollars,  on  the  way  to  Tampico,  was  confiscated ;  repayment  was 
promised  when  the  troubles  in  that  part  of  the  country  were  settled. 
It  will  be  a  long  time,  I  can  tell  you,  before  that  day  comes.  Things 
are  in  a  desperate  way,  and  no  mistake." 

"  And  the  meaning  of  all  this  is ?" 

"  That  a  new  era  is  dawning  for  our  unhappy  country.  Our  central 
committee  at  Mexico  has  long  been  pulling  the  wires ;  the  proclama 
tions  are  prepared  ;  the  blow  is  about  to  be  struck.  My  old  general, 
my  hero,  my  idol,  has  returned."  He  looked  cautiously  around,  hardly 
daring  to  breathe  the  secret  even  in  such  a  place.  "  When  we  fought 
for  him  before,  he  did  not  have  a  fair  chance,  but  this  time  he  will  suc 
ceed.  He  will  put  an  end  to  these  wretched  dissensions,  and  give 
Mexico  at  last  a  government  worthy  of  the  name." 

"  When  ?  When  is  it  to  be  ?  for  I  have  those  to  whose  safety  I 
must  look.  In  my  hermit  life  here  I  have  heard  nothing  of  all  this." 

"  You  would  have  heard  scarcely  more  if  you  had  been  outside,  for 
the  secret  has  been  excellently  kept.  Nothing  is  yet  felt  here  beyond 
a  vague  uneasiness.  The  besotted  government  itself,  rushing  from  one 
folly  to  another,  does  not  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  crisis.  But 
I  have  means  of  knowing  that  the  States  of  Durango,  Jalisco,  and 
Michoacan  are  already  aflame,  and  the  signal  may  be  expected  here  at 
almost  any  moment." 

"  With  such  pressing  interests  awaiting  you,  I  can  hardly  expect 
your  attention  to  my  affair." 

"  On  the  contrary,  your  affair  is  likely  to  be  a  godsend  to  us :  you 
see  the  obligation  will  not  be  all  on  one  side.  The  appointed  date  has 
been  postponed  on  account  of  the  sickness  of  our  chief,  and  to  give  time 
for  the  ferment  at  the  North.  I  was  left  at  Rio  Frio  with  a  large 
force  of  men  who  had  been  gathered  in  ready  for  the  outbreak,  and  with 
nothing  for  them  to  do.  I  sent  part  of  them  in  various  bands  on  the 
pretext  of  making  the  pilgrimage  to  El  Jasmin,  and  with  another  part 
I  have  affected  to  take  service  under  the  Jefe  Politico  and  search  for 
Kaufmann.  Don  Tomas  Corcovedo  and  I  are,  for  the  nonce,  better 
friends  than  we  used  to  be,"  he  added,  with  a  laugh. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  75 

"  He  is  a  dangerous  man,  not  so  stupid  as  he  seems,  and  in  dealing 
with  him  you  are  running  a  great  risk." 

"  He  is  nervous  about  the  state  of  the  country  just  now,  and  seems 
glad  of  any  even  apparent  accession  to  the  armed  force  of  which  he  is 
the  head.  He  will  be  more  arrogant  again  when  he  receives  the  re 
inforcements  he  expects  to  keep  his  district  in  order." 

"  I  shall  be  extremely  grateful  for  any  aid  you  may  give  me  con 
sistent  with  your  own  project.  What  do  you  propose?" 

"  While  my  men  are  idle  they  are  likely  either  to  desert  or  get  into 
some  serious  mischief  that  will  betray  us.  I  propose  that  they  give  up 
the  farce  of  playing  at  pilgrims,  come  down  here,  and  transport  your 
property  on  their  backs.  We  may  bring  down  a  few  mules,  too :  our 
horses  showed  that  the  path  was  practicable.  My  idea  is  that  the  gold 
ought  to  be  outside  the  Barranca  at  some  point  where  it  could  be  easily 
accessible,  if  an  opportunity  should  offer,  for  a  rapid  dash  to  the  coast." 

"  What  point  would  you  suggest  ?" 

"  You  say  you  have  some  of  it  hidden  on  the  shore  of  the  lake, 
and  more  of  it  at  Cuernavaca.  Why  not  collect  it  all  at  Rio  Frio  ? 
That  is  my  head-quarters,  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  your  treacherous 
Jefe  Politico,  the  scene  selected  for  the  uprising,  and  a  convenient  point 
of  departure  for  a  military  movement  to  the  sea." 

"And  after  that?" 

"  The  rest  will  naturally  need  planning  somewhat  as  we  go  on.  I 
have  a  friend,  Captain  Carvajal,  who  has  a  schooner  on  the  coast,  en 
gaged  in  our  business.  I  don't  mind  telling  you  that  he  brought  back 
the  Liberator  from  his  exile.  He  himself  must  be  somewhere  near 
Puebla  now,  having  come  up  to  visit  his  family.  I  will  open  commu 
nications  with  him  and  try  to  see  him  personally.  Carvajal  is  a  Bis- 
cayan  by  birth,  a  bold  fellow  who  has  been  in  all  sorts  of  hazardous 
undertakings,  and  if  we  can  get  him  he  will  be  just  our  man." 

"  Good !"  assented  Walter,  heartily.  "  The  difficulties  of  the  enter 
prise  seem  to  be  already  clearing  away.  But,  naturally,  it  cannot  be 
conveyed  openly  all  at  once :  it  must  go  piecemeal,  by  strategy.  And 
are  you  sure  your  men  can  be  trusted  ?  Will  it  do  to  let  them  know 
what  they  are  dealing  with  ?" 

"  Of  course  not.  They  must  never  see  a  sign  of  it.  They  are  only 
to  think  they  are  transporting  arms  and  supplies  for  the  cause,  dis 
guised  as  sulphate  of  copper.  They  are  not  up  in  fine  points  of  weight 
and  the  like.  We  must  keep  the  boys  well  paid,  and  then  they  can 
be  depended  upon.  It  will  be  a  delightful  novelty  for  them,  and  no 
body  will  get  ahead  of  us  on  that  score." 

Perez  charged  himself  with  turning  some  of  the  ingots  into  cash 
for  the  expenses  of  the  expedition.  They  began  at  once  to  make  their 
preparations  and  plan  the  necessary  subterfuges. 

"  And  Gassol  ?"  inquired  Walter,  with  some  concern. 

"  He  has  seen  nothing  of  consequence,  I  feel  sure.  I  kept  my  dis 
coveries  to  myself.  I  will  make  him  think  your  being  here  is  a  part 
of  the  plan.  He  is  true  as  steel,  and  has  been  with  us  all  along.  His 
place  was  a  convenient  point  for  reunions,  and  he  has  been  the  means 
of  bringing  in  some  of  his  old  cronies, — for  instance,  Perfecto  Ponce 


76  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

above,  to  whom,  with  your  permission,  we  will  now  send  up  a  few 
signals." 

He  and  Gassol  thereupon  set  up  some  flags. 

A  messenger  hastily  came  down,  and  was  sent  off  again.  Almost 
immediately  after  there  began  to  steal  into  the  canon  a  number  of  peons, 
such  as  had  been  seen  about  El  Jasmin.  They  brought  with  them  the 
various  cages  and  other  contrivances  used  by  the  charcoal-burners, 
potters,  and  market-people  generally  for  carrying  their  burdens  :  it  was 
intended  that  the  valuable  freight  should  be  disguised  under  a  variety 
of  forms. 

The  men  who  came  from  another  part  of  the  country,  with  the  ex 
ample  of  their  bold  leaders  before  them,  and  being  gathered  for  a  pecu 
liar  purpose,  were  far  less  troubled  by  the  superstition  of  the  Yellow 
Snake  than  those  of  the  immediate  neighborhood.  Captain  Perez,  too, 
made  a  strong  point  in  Don  Walter's  favor  by  representing  that  the 
latter  had  come  there  for  the  express  purpose  of  destroying  the  abode 
of  the  monster,  and  pointed  out  the  effects  of  the  blasting  to  show  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  doing  so. 

A  good  supply  of  maguey-fibre  bags  was  also  brought  in,  and 
Walter,  with  Perez,  guardedly  found  means  to  pack  all  the  treasure 
that  had  been  piled  in  loose  heaps  into  them  in  person.  Under  the 
eyes  of  so  many  witnesses  they  could  take  out  no  more  treasure  from 
the  exposed  bed.  On  the  contrary,  they  devoted  themselves  to  cover 
ing  it  up  as  much  as  possible.  Nor  could  they  have  delayed  for  any 
further  mining,  since  the  conditions  demanded  the  utmost  haste. 

"  I  think  we  shall  do  well  to  begin  with  a  procession,"  proposed 
Captain  Perez.  "  Religion  has  been  used  before  now  as  a  cloak  for 
many  a  less  worthy  object." 

"  A  procession  ?"  repeated  Walter,  puzzled. 

"  Yes ;  our  pilgrims  will  now  naturally  be  going  back  to  their  homes. 
For  a  consideration,  we  can  borrow  a  number  of  the  figures  of  saints 
at  El  Jasmin.  We  will  fill  the  hollow  interiors  with  our  gold,  and 
the  figures  can  be  conveyed  in  public  parade  to  Rio  Frio.  There  must 
be  some  pretext  of  a  celebration,  or,  say,  prayers  for  rain.  It  is  a  good 
while,  in  fact,  since  we  have  had  rain  enough  in  Rio  Frio." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

AN  ORIGINAL  PBOCESSION  FOB  BAIN. 

ANTONIO  GASSOL  and  Perfecto  Ponce,  as  citizens  of  the  district, 
took  upon  themselves  to  negotiate  with  the  euro,  at  El  Jasmin  for  the 
loan  of  the  statues.  When  the  application  was  backed  by  the  promise 
of  a  handsome  present — guaranteed  by  Captain  Perez — for  the  repair 
of  the  shrine,  it  was  readily  granted. 

They  took  but  a  few  of  the  best  images,  while  a  large  number  of 
old  battered  ones  found  in  a  lumber-room  were  utilized. 

"  It  is  desired  to  have  the  display  as  imposing  as  possible,"  explained 
Gassol :  "  anything  whatever  from  this  esteemed  locality  will  be  most 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  77 

highly  appreciated,  and  our  friends  fear  the  choicer  figures  might  possi 
bly  come  to  some  harm  on  the  journey." 

A  great  deal  of  mystery  was  made  about  the  preparations,  which 
took  place  chiefly  under  cover  of  night.  Only  a  small  number  of  men 
were  admitted  with  Perez  and  Walter  to  work  in  the  court-yard  of  the 
chapter-house,  reserved  exclusively  for  this  business.  All  was  not 
complete  till  near  morning.  In  the  course  of  the  night  many  mules 
stopped  at  the  outer  gate,  and  there  was  not  a  little  bustling  back  and 
forth  also  by  the  other  peons. 

When  the  procession  moved,  many  of  the  images  were  covered  up 
with  petates, — a  kind  of  burlap, — some  even  sewn  up  entirely,  so  that 
only  a  vague  suggestion  of  the  forms  remained.  The  pretext  for  this 
was  to  hide  their  battered  condition  while  on  the  way.  Though  they 
were  made  of  but  thin  metal,  and  therefore  light,  it  was  to  be  noted 
that  their  bearers  carried  them  with  sedate  and  labored  tread,  which 
observers  might  have  taken  for  reverence. 

There  were  women  as  well  as  men  in  the  procession,  and  little  knots 
and  files  of  pretended  market-people  were  scattered  along  before,  behind, 
and  mingling  with  it.  The  mountaineers  carried  large  wooden  crates 
on  their  backs,  and  aided  their  steps  with  long  poles.  Some  staggered 
under  heavy  burdens  of  the  home-spun  goods  of  El  Jasmin.  The 
potters  had  loads  of  their  great,  ruddy  jars  piled  high  above  their  heads, 
the  tops  carefully  covered  that  the  contents  might  not  be  seen.  Others 
were  almost  concealed  in  bales  of  secate,  or  green  fodder,  like  the 
Birnam  wood  that  came  to  Dunsinane.  Only  a  few  armed  men  covered 
the  movement,  bat  under  the  dress  of  all  were  weapons  concealed  that 
would  have  made  them  most  formidable  adversaries  if  attacked. 

The  present  train  carried  something  like  two-thirds  of  the  treasure. 
Had  there  been  force  enough,  Walter  would  have  divided  it,  and 
moved  the  rest  at  the  same  time  from  the  other  end  of  the  Barranca, 
picking  up  also  on  the  way  what  he  had  hidden  on  the  shore  of  Lake 
Jornada.  Now,  however,  all  that  portion  must  be  returned  for  and 
brought  off  by  another  trip. 

"  If  all  goes  well,"  said  Perez,  "  suppose  I  stay  at  Rio  Frio  to  attend 
to  my  affairs,  and  communicate  with  Carvajal,  while  you  come  back  for 
the  remaining  portion  ?  Provided  no  suspicion  is  excited  this  time,  it 
will  be  quite  in  order  to  use  the  same  route  again." 

"  A  second  procession  ?" 

"  Not  at  all ;  but  bringing  back  the  statues  will  give  a  sufficient 
excuse  for  getting  some  of  the  men  here  once  more,  and  they  must  be 
fitted  out  as  ordinary  market-people,  and  the  like.  Keep  me  posted  by 
trusty  messengers,  and  I  will  meet  you  as  you  are  coming  down  the 
pass.  Then,  if  agreeable  to  you,  I  will  take  charge  of  the  train,  and 
you  may  go  and  bring  off  the  portion  left  at  the  lake,  for  which  we 
will  have  boats  provided." 

So  it  was  determined.  Perez,  as  knowing  his  men  the  best,  as 
sumed  the  general  command ;  Walter  rode  near  the  middle  of  the  line. 
Brooding  solicitously  over  the  safety  of  his  treasure,  he  would  have 
wished,  had  it  been  possible,  to  be  in  all  places  at  once.  He  had  now 
a  new  disguise,  wearing  a  beard,  but  otherwise  appeared  in  the  usual 


78  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

costume  adopted  for  adventurous  expeditions.  He  wore  a  short  jacket, 
a  sombrero  with  silver  braid,  carried  a  carbine  on  his  knee,  pistols  in 
his  belt  and  holsters,  and  a  long  sabre  clanking  by  his  side.  He  passed 
for  a  lieutenant  or  superior  mozo  of  Perez,  hailing  from  another  part 
of  the  country. 

It  was  a  gala  day  at  Campo  Florido  when  they  debouched  into 
that  little  hamlet.  There  was  afesta  dcflores,  or  flower-festival,  going 
on  in  honor  of  the  patron  saint,  and  traces  of  this  were  found  almost 
all  along  the  road  to  Cuernavaca,  where  the  regular  market-day  was  in 
progress.  The  trees  were  belted  or  garlanded  with  flowers,  little  trellises 
were  set  up  here  and  there,  music  played,  and  small  tables  were  laid  out, 
on  which,  for  the  occasion  only,  gambling  was  allowed,  the  municipality 
drawing  a  revenue  from  its  exercise. 

Amy,  with  some  of  the  others,  had  come  from  the  hacienda  to  see 
the  novel  sight.  When  the  procession  appeared,  she  was  standing 
under  a  little  pavilion  by  the  great  amape-tree  near  Dona  Beatriz's 
home.  The  nuns'  house  was  closed,  with  an  unusual  air  of  seclusion. 
Naturally,  they  would  not  wish  to  look  out  on  the  gayety  going  on 
before  them.  Some  of  the  rustics  in  good  faith  hailed  Perez's  troopers 
as  coming  back  from  the  search  after  Kaufman  n,  and  inquired  what 
success. 

"  None  ?  why,  then  the  country  is  going  to  the  dogs  indeed,"  they 
said  :  "these  villains  of  plagiaries — kidnappers — have  everything  their 
own  way  again." 

Amy  turned  to  General  del  Prado  to  ask  their  meaning,  but  he 
was  evasive,  as  he  was  wont  to  be  about  all  the  political  troubles,  so  as 
not  to  alarm  her. 

Nodding  hedges  of  freshly-cut  banana-plants  adorned  the  sides  of 
the  street.  Behind  these  the  extraordinary  defile  of  images  presently 
hove  in  sight.  Amy,  in  a  certain  consternation,  at  first  thought  it  was 
dead  bodies  the  men  were  carrying  so  solemnly  in  the  stretchers  on 
their  shoulders,  but  as  they  drew  near  she  was  undeceived.  She  found 
the  spectacle  quaint  and  original.  The  church-bells  rang  in  honor  of 
the  festival, — sometimes  turning  over  and  over  as  in  ecstasy, — and  the 
gayety  on  the  surface  formed  a  contrast  indeed,  had  one  known  the 
truth,  with  the  real  object  of  the  burden-bearers,  sweating  under  their 
heavy  loads.  These  had  a  certain  quiet  enjoyment  in  their  duplicity. 
They  uttered  in  a  sing-song  way  the  usual  peasant  salutations  as  they 
went  along : 

"  How  do  you  do  ? — How  is  the  family  ? — Did  you  pass  a  pleasant 
night  ? — May  you  pass  a  pleasant  night  this  time ! — Until  a  little 
while  ! — Adios !" 

Trinidad  Jos6,  who  was  there,  with  his  dog  behind  him,  took  upon 
himself  to  answer  these  salutations  for  the  General's  party,  ignorant  of 
the  spice  of  derision  they  contained.  Presently  the  parade  rested,  and 
many  of  the  men  scattered  from  their  ranks  among  the  various  attrac 
tions  of  the  festa.  Some  of  them  had  already  judiciously  taken  an 
upper  road  leading  eastward,  but  the  main  body  were  to  proceed  boldly 
through  the  city  itself,  us  a  course  less  likely  to  excite  suspicion. 
General  del  Prado  was  called  away  for  a  moment  on  some  matter  of 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  79 

business.  While  flower-sellers  particularly  engaged  the  attention  of 
the  rest,  a  horseman  found  opportunity  to  approach  Amy  and  let  fall 
guardedly  a  few  words  in  English. 

"  You  again,  Don  Walter  ?"  she  exclaimed.  "  Is  not  this  too  dan 
gerous  ?  What  plan  have  you  adopted  now  ?" 

"  Everything  is  going  well,"  he  answered,  reassuringly.  "  I  hope 
soon  to  reappear  in  my  proper  person.  Keep  up  good  courage  I" 

Amy  asked  the  General,  thereupon,  to  take  her  to  Cuernavaca  also, 
and  in  the  market-place  of  that  town  a  few  more  words  of  similar  pur 
port  were  exchanged.  Her  recent  depression  was  shaken  off,  and  her 
heart  beat  with  a  kind  of  fearful  gladness  at  the  turn  things  had  taken. 

"  What  is  the  use  of  all  this,  anyway  ?"  said  the  Jefe  Politico,  com 
ing  up  to  some  of  the  men  with  the  statues,  with  perhaps  a  little  more 
than  his  customary  insolence,  to  impress  the  group  from  Las  Delicias. 

"  When  we  have  had  no  rain  for  some  time  over  there,"  replied  a 
spokesman,  demurely,  "  we  bring  out  the  saints,  and  that  always  suc 
ceeds.  Besides,  we  expect  these  from  the  holy  place  to  have  a  pecu 
liarly  good  effect." 

"  Don't  you  know  the  saints  don't  make  the  weather,  you  ?  There's 
a  people  for  you  !"  in  great  disgust.  "  The  weather  is  made  by — it  is 
— er — for  example,  now — the  full  moon — the  rotation  of  the  sun — when 
you  want  to  know  anything  about  those  matters,  come  to  my  office.  I 
can  tell  you  everything  on  science,  absolutely  everything." 

"  Yes,  Excellency,  henceforth  we  shall  always  do  so." 

"  And,  you  know,  you  take  a  very  lazy  gait,  you  men,  as  if  these 
things  were  heavy.  You  cumber  up  the  market-place  with  them.  I 

would  guarantee  to  carry  a  whole  one  myself Ah,  ten  million 

devils  !  shoo  !  get  away  with  you  !" 

He  jumped  back  and  made  a  cut  with  his  whip  at  his  namesake, 
Trinidad  Josefs  "  Corcovedo."  The  animal,  either  well  trained  in  his 
master's  hostility  or  sharing  it  by  instinct,  had  taken  advantage  of  the 
dignitary's  bending  posture  to  make  a  longing  snap  at  his  legs. 

General  del  Prado  apologized  for  the  animal's  misconduct,  but  the 
Jefe  was  furious  and  would  not  accept  any  apology. 

"  I  can  tell  you  it  won't  do  to  have  your  dogs  snapping  at  the  legs 
of  a  high  official  in  times  like  these,"  he  exclaimed,  savagely.  "  It 
behooves  everybody  to  be  thinking  how  he  stands  with  the  government, 
instead  of  causing  it  annoyance  and  suspicion." 

As  the  cackling  of  the  geese  saved  Rome,  this  trivial  incident  pre 
vented  his  making  a  discovery  that  might  have  resulted  in  very  serious 
consequences.  The  men  picked  up  their  load  again,  and — especially  as 
they  had  been  enjoined  to  do  so — vacated  the  plaza  as  soon  as  possible. 
They  melted  away  insensibly,  as  it  were,  sloping  down  the  side-streets, 
stopping  at  various  places  to  refresh  themselves,  and  then  taking  to  the 
road  in  small  detachments.  Antonio  Gassol  entertained  many  of  them, 
and  the  Alma  de  Mexico  was  for  a  time  a  scene  of  crowded  animation. 
So  also — that  no  invidious  distinction  might  be  remarked — was  the 
Bella  Union. 

The  market-people  who  had  accompanied  them  vanished  in  like 
manner,  not  easily  missed  among  the  unusual  throng  in  the  place  that 


80  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

day.  The  make-believe  devotees  had  a  particular  head-quarters  at  a 
corral  engaged  by  Perez,  and  from  this  corral  just  at  dusk,  and  for 
some  time  after,  a  considerable  number  of  mules  issued  forth,  lighten 
ing  the  loads  so  that  the  march  could  be  pressed  with  greater  speed. 

Needless  to  describe  all  the  small  incidents,  delays,  and  well-grounded 
fears,  that  attended  such  a  march.  The  general  rendezvous  was  about 
ten  miles  to  the  east  of  Cuernavaca.  The  party  camped  there  for  the 
night,  under  some  large  forest  trees.  They  were  astir  again  at  dawn, 
went  on  that  day,  and,  waiting  discreetly  till  the  shades  of  the  second 
night  had  fallen,  entered  Rio  Frio.  Their  loads  were  deposited  in  a 
thick-walled  meson,  or  caravansary,  retained  by  Perez,  around  which  a 
strong  guard  was  posted.  A  semblance  of  a  procession  for  rain  was 
held  the  next  day,  and  then  the  men,  a  few  at  a  time,  were  sent  back 
with  the  figures  to  El  Jasmin. 

Meanwhile,  General  del  Prado,  stung  by  the  insulting  words  he 
had  endured  for  a  second  time  from  the  Jefe  Politico,  started  next 
morning  for  Mexico,  to  observe  the  complexion  of  affairs  there,  see  how 
he  stood  with  the  government,  and  how  he  had  best  adapt  himself  to 
the  coming  troubles. 

Thus  two-thirds  of  the  treasure  was  safe  at  Rio  Frio.  Don  Walter 
Arroyo  waited  only  to  see  it  carefully  bestowed,  and  then  set  out  with 
a  single  servant  behind  him,  and  at  nightfall  entered  Cuernavaca,  as 
having  returned  from  the  United  States. 

The  aunts  received  him  with  open  arms.  They  accepted  all  his 
excuses  with  full  confidence.  He  had  come  by  a  trading-vessel,  it  ap 
peared,  instead  of  the  regular  steamer,  a  more  favorable  bargain  having 
offered  in  this  way,  and  he  had  not  written,  in  order  to  surprise  them. 

"  But, — this  in  confidence, — "  he  said,  "  I  must  soon  be  off  again 
to  the  United  States.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  for  long.  A  business  con 
nection  is  open  to  me  there  which  it  would  be  injustice  to  myself  to 
neglect." 

Alas !  their  wild  bird  had  flown  from  the  nest,  and  they  feared  it 
would  be  long  indeed  before  he  returned  to  it.  To  acquaintances  Walter 
said  he  had  little  good  to  report  of  the  United  States, — knowing  this 
was  the  way  in  which  he  could  best  escape  embarrassing  questions, — but 
excused  himself  from  entering  into  much  detail,  on  the  score  of  pressing 
affairs  awaiting  his  attention.  Letting  a  day  or  two  elapse  for  the  sake 
of  appearances,  during  which  he  found  means  of  despatching  the  small 
hoard  from  his  own  house  to  Perez,  he  declared  he  must  be  off  to  visit 
the  country  property  and  his  neglected  ranch. 

On  the  way  he  stopped  to  see  Amy :  now  at  last  he  could  visit  her 
openly.  He  had  hardly  been  able  to  check  his  burning  impatience  till 
the  time  came.  What  a  long  and  delicious  talk  they  held,  in  one  of 
their  fragrant  bowers  in  the  garden,  on  all  the  aspects  of  the  case ! 
They  sat  again  by  the  spring  that  had  befriended  them,  and  looked  off 
at  the  distant  mountain-peak  which  seemed  covered  with  powdered 
sugar  in  the  warm  tropical  landscape.  Since  the  earthquake  the  basin 
no  longer  bubbled,  but  in  all  other  respects  Las  Delicias  had  escaped 
intact.  How  often  had  Amy  sat  there  alone,  a  prey  to  the  terrors  of 
her  imagination !  how  often  had  she  fancied  her  friend  lying  dead  in 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  81 

the  wild  Barranca,  his  hapless  corpse  fitfully  illumined  by  the  lava- 
flames  !  She  was  rapt  with  enthusiasm  now  at  his  magnificent  success. 
But  all  danger  was  by  no  means  yet  over,  as  appeared  when,  without 
betraying  the  secret  of  the  political  movement,  he  gave  her  an  outline 
of  his  plans. 

"  We  shall  march  in  force  from  Rio  Frio,"  he  said.  "  There  we 
shall  have  mules,  and  our  porters  will  be  transformed  into  fighting- 
men.  You  used  to  profess  a  fancy  for  the  romantic.  Well,  now  I 
ask  you  to  look  at  us  a  little  in  that  way,  for  surely  there  is  an  element 
of  romance  in  an  expedition  like  ours." 

"But  you  will  be  in  danger — ah,  you  smile;  I  could  never  make 
that  have  any  weight  with  you ;  but — but  you  do  not  wish  to  fight  and 
sacrifice  lives  ?  Think  how  badly  you  will  feel  when  you  reach  New 
York  if  anything  of  that  kind  has  happened." 

"  None  but  villains  will  try  to  stop  us,  and  they  will  deserve  what 
ever  happens  to  them.  The  country  will  be  all  the  better  for  their 
taking  off.  No  one  shall  have  this  treasure  while  I  live." 

"  Oh,  why  will  you  talk  so  ?"  she  appealed,  lamenting.  "  Is  it  not 
true  that  '  all  that  a  man  hath  he  will  give  for  his  life'  ?" 

"  Till  this  is  over  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  even  begun  to  live," 
he  replied,  gloomily.  "  But  let  us  not  discuss  that.  Before  long,  I 
trust,  we  shall  meet  in  New  York.  When  we  meet  there  I  shall  have  a 

wonderful  story  to  tell  you  ;  but  till  then " 

Amy  speculated  tremblingly  whether  this  was  to  be  at  last  a  dis 
closure  of  his  love  for  herself,  a  love  she  so  greatly  craved. 
They  spoke  of  Dona  Beatriz. 

"  She  has  hardly  been  seen  in  public  since  the  return  from  El  Jas 
min,"  said  Amy.  "  She  seemed  terribly  alarmed  by  the  earthquake ; 
she  was  even  more  depressed  on  the  way  down  than  I  was,  though  I 
had  all  my  other  troubles  besides  to  think  of.  She  is  living  in  strict 
seclusion.  I  went  there  to  try  to  find  her  the  day  of  the  festa,  but 
Sister  Praxedis  brought  me  word  she  would  see  nobody.  How  she 
recognized  you  at  El  Jasmin  remains  the  greatest  of  mysteries." 

Walter  told  her  of  the  intercepted  letter, — suppressing  its  purport, 
— and  then,  little  by  little,  as  to  one  to  whom  all  confidence  is  due,  of 
the  whole  interview',  except  as  to  the  place  where  the  riches  of  the  con 
vent  were  buried ;  for  this  knowledge  belonged  to  no  one,  not  even  to 
himself. 

"  And  why  did  you  not  take  this  treasure,  and  this  true  affection  ?" 
asked  Amy,  genuinely  marvelling  at  him. 

He  remained  stubbornly  silent  as  to  his  motive. 
He  was  asking  himself  speciously  if  it  were  not  really  his  duty  now 
to  ask  the  right  to  throw  his  protection  round  her  and  watch  over  her 
during  the  approaching  troubles. 

"No,  no,"  his  fixed  conviction  still  answered,  "the  time  has  not 
come :  all  may  yet  fail.  No  danger  can  come  to  her  under  the  guar 
dianship  of  this  most  influential  family." 

How  peculiarly  fair  she  was,  even  in  spite  of  her  worn  look,  after 
his  long  deprivation  of  the  sight  of  her  !  how  small  a  victory  it  would 
have  seemed  for  him  to  have  overcome  even  far  greater  blandishments 
VOL.  XLIL— 6 


82  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

for  her  sake  !  Their  hands  trembled  with  agitation  as  they  touched  in 
parting. 

What  madness  !  what  utterly  unwarrantable  conduct !  what  a  yield 
ing  to  temptation  after  all  the  severe  resolutions  he  had  but  just  now 
registered  !  Swayed  by  an  impulse  he  could  not  control,  and  one  that 
seemed  to  extend  as  well  to  her,  and  hardly  knowing  what  he  did, 
Walter  took  Amy  fairly  in  his  arms,  held  her  form  for  one  delicious 
instant  against  his  own,  kissed  her  peach-like  cheek,  her  brow,  her 
lovely  hair. 

"  Don  Walter !"  she  protested,  in  an  indescribable  murmur  of  gentle 
resistance  that  haunted  him  many  a  long  day  like  a  refrain  of  the 
sweetest  music,  or  one  of  those  exquisite  aromas  that  are  sometimes 
blown  across  the  track  of  the  traveller  on  a  mountain-road. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

A  FIERCE  ENEMY  SWOOPS  DOWN  UPON  THE  TREASURE. 

WHILE  he  was  still  hesitating  after  the  tremors  of  this  blissful 
experience,  uncertain  whether  the  effort  to  go  were  not  too  great,  a  hue 
and  cry  was  raised  at  a  distance,  and  Trinidad  Jose"  came  running  to 
them  for  protection.  His  offence  in  naming  his  dog  had  been  discov 
ered  by  the  Jefe  Politico,  or,  at  least,  by  some  of  his  men.  A  number 
of  swashbucklers  of  the  newly-arrived  Third  Battalion  had  met  him 
on  the  road  and  resented  the  insult  to  their  chief.  They  had  set  upon 
him  violently,  but  he  had  been  able  to  give  them  the  slip  through  his 
acquaintance  with  a  short  cut  across  the  fields. 

"  Even  if  I  get  off  now,  I  shall  never  dare  show  myself  outside  the 
hacienda  again,"  he  said. 

"  Then  join  me  to-night  at  my  rancho  of  Cruce  Vivo,"  Walter  pro 
posed  to  him.  "  I  will  give  you  some  work  to  do  up  there  that  will  be 
better,  at  any  rate,  than  hiding  here.  Meantime,  stow  yourself  away, 
and  I  will  deal  with  these  pursuers." 

Trinidad  Jose1  took  refuge  in  one  of  the  corner  pavilions  above  the 
great  fish-pond,  where  he  buried  himself  under  the  fruit.  Some  of  the 
ribald  soldiers  immediately  came  rushing  up  the  garden  alleys.  Walter 
rebuked  them  sternly,  and  Don  Angel,  a  youth  of  hot  spirit,  whose  ears 
the  disturbance  had  also  reached,  arrived  with  a  band  of  employees 
hastily  mustered.  The  intruders  upon  this  retired,  but  muttered  impu 
dently  something  about  coming  again.  One  said  to  another, — 

"  Very  pretty  pickings  such  a  place  as  this  would  make.  My  idea 
is  that  all  these  top  swells  ought  to  be  laid  under  handsome  contribu 
tions." 

The  times  were  growing  troublous  indeed,  and  it  were  well  if  the 
General  were  home  again.  He  returned,  in  fact,  within  two  or  three 
days,  and  his  manner  disclosed  no  small  uneasiness.  He  was  a  man 
rather  slow  to  action  and  far  better  adapted  for  the  peaceful  arts  of 
civilized  life  than  for  the  turmoil  of  a  revolutionary  period.  Himself 
upright  and  honorable,  no  very  ardent  admirer  of  the  present  admin 
istration,  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  by  no  means  ready  to  counte- 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.     .  33 

nance  the  pretensions  of  the  so-called  Liberator,  he  had  perhaps  perse 
vered  in  a  policy  of  inaction  much  too  long.  He  confided  to  his  wife 
that  he  had  been  met  only  by  an  offensive  rebuff  by  the  ruling  powers 
at  Mexico,  no  employment  had  been  offered  him,  and  he  had  come  back 
alarmed  even  as  to  his  own  safety.  He  had  adopted  a  resolution  on  the 
way  home.  To  Amy  he  said, — 

"  I  will  not  conceal  from  you  that  this  is  no  ordinary  crisis.  Nor 
is  the  trouble  likely  to  be  soon  over.  I  should  not  be  doing  my  duty 
either  to  you  or  your  family  if  I  allowed  you  to  be  subject  to  any  dan 
ger.  I  propose  to  take  my  family  to  Jalapa  to  remain  quietly  away 
from  the  centre  of  the  disturbances.  Then  I  will  return  to  defend  the 
hacienda.  Angel,  who  is  a  brave  boy,  will  take  care  of  it  meantime. 
WQ  must  set  out  at  once." 

"  Whatever  you  think  is  best,  General.  I  am  quite  willing  to  go  to 
Jalapa." 

"  Oh,  no :  I  was  coming  to  the  point.  The  disturbances  may  break 
out  there  too.  I  have  been  obliged  to  make  another  plan  for  you.  The 
American  minister  is  to  sail  from  Vera  Cruz  immediately  with  a  num 
ber  of  families  who  are  fleeing  from  the  country,  and  I  have  arranged 
to  place  you  also  under  his  charge.  We  will  meet  him  at  the  railway- 
junction  of  Apizaco.  There  is  no  immediate  cause  for  alarm,  you 
know,"  he  said,  soothingly,  "  but  we  shall  do  well  to  make  all  possible 
speed  while  things  are  still  quiet." 

But  to  the  family  he  spoke  much  more  frankly.  He  told  how  the 
dread  insurgent  chief  Socorro  Reyes  had  broken  out  again  in  the  State 
of  Michoacan,  and  Nufiez  in  the  Canton  of  Tepic.  The  British  man- 
of-war  Amethyst  had  landed  troops  to  save  Colima  from  a  forced 
loan  imposed  upon  it  by  brigands.  The  mayor-domo  of  a  large  haci 
enda  on  the  Plains  of  Apam  had  pronounced  with  about  a  hundred 
men,  and  been  cut  to  pieces  by  the  government  troops.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  government  force  of  twice  the  same  number  had  been  massacred 
by  the  Indian  population  of  Guerrero. 

"  There  is  a  growing  conviction,"  he  said,  "  that  most  of  this  is  in 
the  interest  of  a  noted  revolutionist  about  to  return  from  his  exile  at 
New  Orleans.  Some  even  think  he  is  in  the  country  already." 

His  words  at  first  caused  astonishment  and  dismay  in  the  household, 
but  this  soon  came  to  an  end.  In  countries  where  armed  strife  is  fre 
quent,  women  and  children  are  often  quiet  and  self-contained  even  under 
fire.  The  hacienda  was  also  put  in  its  best  state  of  defence.  "  Jalapa 
is  a  charming  place, — such  a  fresh  green  landscape,"  said  the  Madre, 
cheerfully,  trying  hard  to  be  reconciled,  "  and  the  women  are  so  pretty. 
*  Las  JalapeUas  son  halaguenas,' "  repeating  a  proverb  meaning  that 
the  maids  and  dames  of  Jalapa  are  an  unusually  captivating  race. 

"  Yes,  we  have  some  cousins  there,  and  it  will  be  very  nice,"  added 
Luz. 

"Nothing  can  ever  be  so  charming  to  me  as  Las  Delicias,"  said 
Amy,  with  a  sigh. 

The  news  of  their  preparations  was  brought  to  the  Jefe  Politico,  and 
he  gathered  a  band  to  stop  their  departure.  As  often  happens  in  revo 
lutionary  countries,  he  seized  upon  the  political  troubles  as  an  oppor- 


84  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

tunity  to  gratify  his  private  malice.  Events  had  moved  rapidly  in  the 
past  few  days.  Sen" or  Corcovedo  also  had  his  special  intelligence  from 
Mexico.  An  unusual  force  was  now  placed  at  his  disposal  to  keep  his 
district  quiet,  and  he  assumed  dictatorial  powers.  He  was  sustained  at 
the  capital  by  two  persons  high  in  authority,  whose  creature  he  was. 
They  were  no  friends  of  General  del  Prado,  and  doubtless  he  took  his 
cue  from  them. 

While  on  his  road  he  was  met  by  Pablo,  who  had  been  engaged 
in  various  odd  jobs  in  his  service  since  leaving  that  of  Walter,  and 
who  now  besought  an  interview. 

"  Well,  be  quick  about  it :  don't  mumble  your  head  off,"  said  the 
Jefe,  offensively. 

"  I  was  right  in  what  I  told  you  before :  Don  Walter  Arroyo  is  not 
at  the  Norte  :  he  is  in  this  country.  He  is  very  bold  about  it,  too,  and 
I  have  just  seen  him." 

"  Have  you,  indeed  ?  remarkable,  isn't  it,  considering  he  returned  by 
the  steamer  some  days  ago,"  indulging  in  a  sarcasm  which  was  very  rare 
for  him. 

The  informant  was  quite  chapfallen  at  this.  "  I  have  been  up  the 
pass  for  some  time,"  said  he,  "  and  I  didn't  know  what  was  going  on 
here." 

"  No,  I'll  warrant  you  didn't,  nor  anywhere  else  either.  Awhile 
ago  you  told  me  you  had  seen  a  peon  you  suspected  to  be  Don  Walter. 
At  the  same  time  another  of  my  men  had  heard  a  peon  who  seemed  to 
be  something  more  than  a  peon  talking  with  Dona  Beatriz.  Between 
you,  you  made  out  that  it  must  be  the  same  one.  I  set  a  watch  for  him 
on  your  recommendation  at  Dofia  Beatriz's  house,  but  he  has  not  turned 
up  there.  If  you  can  tell  me  anything  useful  about  that  mysterious 
person,  and  where  and  when  he  is  going  to  dig  up  the  nuns'  treasure, 
go  ahead,  in  God's  name.  If  you  can't,  be  off  with  you  before  I  warm 
you  with  this  whip.  Don't  give  me  any  more  prophecies  of  Peregrullo." 

He  half  raised  his  whip,  but,  relenting,  went  on  : 

"  What  a  fine  pair  you  were,  anyway,  to  let  your  interesting  indi 
vidual  give  you  the  slip  and  vanish  out  of  sight  entirely,  while  you 
took  time  to  refresh  yourselves  and  bring  back  the  news  of  his  presence 
to  me !" 

"  It  was  the  earthquake,  your  most  exalted  Excellency,  that  broke 
up  everything.  The  man  seemed  to  be  swallowed  up  in  it,  and  we 
were  all  terribly  alarmed,  because  it  was  the  worst  known  in  many 
years." 

"  Am  I  one  to  be  talked  to  of  your  alarms, — I  to  whom  fear  is 
absolutely  unknown  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  how  it  is,  but  somehow  I  still  think  I  was  right 
about  him." 

"  About  whom  ?" 

"  Don  Walter.  He's  coming  down  the  mountain  now  with  a  lot  of 
men  carrying  off  heaven  only  knows  what,  though  he  will  probably 
affect  not  to  belong  to  them." 

"  What  is  all  this  to  me,  you  ?  WThat  have  I  to  do  with  your  Don 
Walter  or  Don  devil,  anyway  ?" 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  85 

"  He  is  a  man  who  ridicules  your  Excellency,"  responded  Pablo, 
artfully,  seeking  a  sting. 

"  Caramba  !  I  am  not  a  person  to  be  ridiculed,  and  I  have  noticed 
the  young  sprig  is  much  given  to  ridiculing  people.  Well,  then,  what 
do  you  say  he  is  carrying  off?" 

"  Being  on  the  mountain  again,  with  my  eyes  about  me,  a  few  days 
ago,  I  saw  Don  Walter  come  up  with  Trinidad  Jose1.  I  had  followed 
them  to  Cruce  Vivo,  and  thence  to  the  Barranca  of  Cimarron.  I  had 
much  difficulty,  on  account  of  many  men  who  seemed  to  be  on  guard, 
but  still  I  had  an  opportunity  to  see  that  some  mysterious  operations 
were  going  on  at  the  Barranca.  Numerous  persons  came  up  carrying 
heavy  bags.  I  managed  to  mingle  with  them  at  El  Jasmin,  and  found 
that  they  were  the  same  ones  that  had  been  engaged  in  the  procession. 
They  had  brought  back  the  statues,  and  they  now  pretend  that  there  is 
a  scarcity  of  provisions  at  Rio  Frio,  and  they  embrace  the  chance  to 
carry  there  what  is  needed.  But  it  is  my  opinion  that  this  is  only  a 
blind  and  they  are  taking  away  something  valuable  from  the  Barranca." 

"  But  you  have  told  me  yourself  the  Barranca  is  an  utterly  dis 
agreeable,  useless  place.  It  is  because  he  forced  you  to  go  there  that 
you  hate  him." 

"  Yes ;  but  I  have  sometimes  thought  since  that  he  might  have  found 
something  worth  while  in  it." 

"  Then  why  the  devil  didn't  you  go  down  and  see  ?" 

"  The  Yellow  Snake  is  very  unlucky,  your  illustrious  Excellency." 

"  Ah,  bah  !  Well,  I'll  take  a  look  into  the  baggage  of  these  worthies, 
— at  your  risk,  do  you  understand  :  if  I  find  you've  been  deceiving  me 
it  will  be  worse  for  you.  Just  now,  you  observe,  I  have  other  things 
to  do." 

"  But  they  are  only  just  behind  me.  I  hurried  on  in  advance  to 
warn  you.  They  may  get  off  with  their  plunder  if  you  do  not  look 
well  to  it." 

At  the  junction  of  the  main  road  with  that  to  Las  Delicias  and 
the  mountain-path  lay  a  group  of  roofless  buildings,  the  vestiges  of 
a  country-house  ruined  in  former  wars.  Fortunately  for  Seflor  Cor- 
covedo,  who  could  not  fully  make  up  his  mind  to  change  his  plan  of 
going  to  play  the  ruffian  and  tyrant  at  the  hacienda,  the  small  cortege 
of  the  del  Prado  family  was  approaching,  and  already  near  this  point. 
Corcovedo  drew  up  his  force  across  the  road  and  intercepted  them. 

Almost  at  the  same  moment  Captain  Perez  dashed  up,  on  his  way 
to  rejoin  Walter.  This  was  the  first  semblance  of  danger  he  had  yet 
fallen  in  with,  but  he  felt  it  might  have  been  much  worse  when  he 
came  to  learn  the  intention  of  the  Jefe  Politico.  Though  he  had  no 
great  interest  in  General  del  Prado,  he  had  not  a  little  in  Amy  on 
Walter's  account.  With  an  insinuating,  politic  way  he  well  knew  how 
to  employ  at  need,  he  begged  to  offer  his  mediation,  but  this  Seflor 
Corcovedo  brusquely  rejected. 

"  I  demand  your  passport,"  he  had  said,  roughly,  to  the  General,  on 
halting  him. 

"  My  passport  ?  What  need  have  I  of  a  passport,  who  am  so  well 
known  to  you  ?" 


86  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  I  have  received  orders  that  all  persons  travelling  without  passports 
are  to  be  arrested,  and  the  laws  concerning  conspiracy  applied  to  them." 

"  Such  a  law  was  indeed  talked  of  while  I  was  at  Mexico,  but  it 
has  never  been  published  here.  In  any  event,  such  laws  are  not  for 
me,"  rejoined  the  General,  haughtily. 

"  We  will  see  about  that.  I  will  hold  you  as  my  prisoner  for 
attempting  to  leave  the  district  without  authority." 

With  what  ineffable  contempt  the  lustrous  orbs  of  Sefiorita  Luz 
blazed  at  this  man  who  had  once  aspired  to  call  himself  her  lover ! 

"  But  I  am  an  American  citizen,  and  General  del  Prado  has  only 
set  out  to  place  me  under  the  protection  of  the  minister  of  my  country. 
I  demand  that  we  shall  not  be  interrupted,"  interposed  Amy,  astonished 
at  her  own  temerity. 

"  Oh,  very  well ;  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  about  that,  but  I 
suppose  we  may  take  your  word  for  it,"  responded  the  Jefe,  sneeringly. 
"  You  may  go  on  by  yourself." 

But  now  the  head  of  an  irregular  column  of  market-people  was 
seen  coming  down  the  mountain-path.  There  seemed  an  unusual 
number  of  women  among  them,  dressed  in  the  Egyptian-like  blue 
reboso  and  skirt.  The  foremost  ones  came  swiftly  on,  making  little  of 
their  burdens,  as  their  way  is,  and  the  soldiers  opened  slightly  to  let 
them  pass  through.  Don  Walter  appeared  riding  only  as  if  with  and 
not  of  them.  The  real  and  false  market-people  were  mingled  together. 

A  whistle  was  heard,  and  nearly  all  stopped  where  they  were.  No 
great  number  had  yet  come  in  sight.  Captain  Perez  dreaded  the  ill 
eifect  on  Walter  of  the  situation  of  affairs,  and  he  pushed  over  towards 
him  to  counsel  prudence. 

"Surely  there  can  be  no  reason  for  detaining  or  annoying  these 
friends  from  the  hacienda  of  Las  Delicias,"  said  Walter  to  the  Jefe : 
"  there  must  be  some  mistake  here." 

"  Oh,  of  course  we  shall  account  for  it  to  you  at  leisure.  Mean 
while,  you  are  my  prisoner  too,"  presenting  a  revolver  at  his  head. 

"  I  your  prisoner  ?"  he  returned,  calmly,  thrilled  through  every  fibre 
with  a  sense  of  the  danger,  yet  desirous  to  retain  his  utmost  coolness  on 
account  of  the  vastness  of  the  interests  at  stake ;  "  and  pray  on  what 
account  ?" 

"  You  are  charged  with  converting  the  public  domain  to  your  own 
use,  and  I  demand  an  account  of  what  your  followers  here  are  taking 
away." 

He  had  signalled  to  a  part  of  his  men  to  guard  the  first  prisoners, 
and  to  the  rest  to  close  up  around  himself.  The  two  groups  were  not 
a  little  mixed  together.  At  the  sight  of  the  pistol  aimed  at  Walter, 
Amy  Colebrook,  whose  anxious  eye  had  been  upon  all  this,  was  so 
wrought  upon  by  an  intensity  of  dread  that  she  gave  utterance  to  a 
most  piercing  feminine  shriek.  She  saw  not  only  the  personal  danger 
of  her  hero,  but  the  ruin  impending  over  his  grand  project.  So  pene 
trated  with  exquisite  agony  was  this  shriek,  so  vivid  and  startling,  that 
it  irresistibly  drew  the  attention  of  every  one. 

In  this  instant  of  diversion,  while  the  eyes  of  the  Jefe  Politico 
unwittingly  turned  with  the  rest,  a  figure  which  appeared  to  be  a 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE  g7 

woman,  but  was  in  reality  Trinidad  Jose,  sprang  swiftly  upon  him, 
caught  his  extended  arm,  and  dragged  him  down  from  the  saddle. 
Captain  Perez  at  the  same  time  made  his  broad-breasted  charger  wheel 
and  plunge  roughly  among  the  crowd,  and  cried,  in  a  stentorian  voice, — 

"  A  mistake  !  a  mistake  !  Stand  back !  do  not  fire  !  Some  mistake 
is  here !" 

"  Pin  him,  Corcovedo !  pin  him,  boy  !"  called  Trinidad  Jos6 ;  and 
the  dog  devoted  himself  with  a  gusto  to  helping  at  last  a  sweet,  long- 
deferred  vengeance. 

The  men,  disorganized  by  the  fall  of  their  chief  and  the  cry  of 
Perez,  knew  not  at  first  what  to  do.  But  they  were  regulars,  and  soon 
recovered  their  equanimity.  They  fired  at  Jos6  and  his  dog, — though 
both  miraculously  escaped  unhurt, — set  the  Jefe  again  on  his  horse, 
then  formed  in  good  order  and  sent  a  telling  volley  after  the  scattering 
peasants.  They  began  to  follow  them,  but  soon,  realizing  that  discre 
tion  was  the  better  part  of  valor,  they  retired  to  the  ruined  country- 
house,  still  keeping  the  del  Prado  family  as  prisoners. 

A  loud,  shrill  call  summoned  into  sight  a  much  larger  force  of  the 
peasants.  Those  in  disguise  threw  off  their  women's  costumes,  and  all 
prepared  for  the  attack.  In  the  mMee  some  shouts  for  the  Liberator 
had  inadvertently  been  raised :  the  war-cry  was  thus  heard,  and  the 
movement  identified  henceforth  with  that  of  the  revolution. 

"The  campaign  has  begun,"  commented  Perez,  philosophically. 
"  Very  well,  it  can't  be  helped ;  we  are  in  for  it,  and  we'll  take  the 
consequences." 

It  was  clearly  necessary,  in  the  sequel,  that  they  should  retreat,  but 
they  determined  first  to  cripple  the  enemy,  to  prevent  a  too  speedy  pur 
suit.  Still  more  important  in  Walter's  eyes  was  the  rescuing  of  the 
prisoners.  A  plan  of  attack  was  quickly  arranged :  one  body  was  to 
advance  along  the  road,  another  to  make  a  feint  in  flank,  while  a  third 
should  steal  round  under  cover  of  a  thick  field  of  bananas  and  take 
the  enemy  in  the  rear.  But  these  latter  were  no  novices  in  this  kind 
of  warfare,  and,  as  without  the  help  of  artillery  every  adobe  wall  may 
become  a  redoubt,  they  stoutly  held  their  own.  It  was  not  till  another 
force  under  young  Don  Angel — who  had  been  notified  at  the  hacienda 
of  what  was  going  on — came  hurrying  and  yelling  across  the  fields  that 
they  finally  gave  up.  They  broke  from  their  intrenchments  and  fled 
in  wild  confusion,  with  much  loss. 

Amy  Colebrook  had  a  brief  glimpse  of  Walter  under  a  guise  in 
which  it  is  rarely  given  to  women  to  see  their  heroes.  She  hardly 
knew  him,  and  was  almost  afraid  of  him.  The  rage  of  battle  was  still 
upon  him,  he  was  bleeding  from  a  slight  bullet-wound  across  the  cheek, 
and  a  revolver  smoked  in  his  hand.  He  was  bursting  in  a  gate,  at  the 
head  of  a  storming-party,  when  the  enemy  took  to  flight. 

But  this  in  no  way  interfered  with  his  affectionate  consideration  for 
her.  He  was  inclined  to  retire  from  view,  as  if  his  appearance  were  an 
offence  against  etiquette.  He  quickly  detailed  Captain  Perez  to  guard 
the  General's  party  to  Rio  Frio,  leaving  him,  Don  Walter,  to  his  own 
resources.  Perez  strongly  expostulated  at  this,  but  the  other  would 
not  be  gainsaid. 


gg  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  Go  at  once  !"  insisted  "Walter,  almost  imperiously.  "  They  must 
be  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety.  Now  that  they  are  supposed  to  be 
identified  with  the  insurrection,  there  is  no  telling  what  penalties  they 
would  suffer  if  captured.  You  are  light,  and  can  keep  the  start  you 
have  got." 

"  And  you  ?" 

"  We  shall  retire  up  the  pass  again  to  the  Barranca,  and  go  out  by 
Lake  Jornada.  Be  sure  you  see  we  have  some  boats  and  what  aid  you 
can  spare  available  there.  I  shall  contest  every  inch  of  the  way  if 
necessary,  but  we  know  our  route  better  than  they  do  now,  and,  heavily 
loaded  as  we  are,  no  other  would  be  possible." 

Meanwhile,  all  the  bells  in  the  town  pealed  out  a  hoarse  and  jang 
ling  alarm,  the  shops  and  churches  were  closed,  and  good  citizens 
barred  their  doors  at  the  bursting  of  this  sudden  war-cloud. 

The  Jefe  Politico  had  been  within  an  ace  of  capture  himself;  he 
certainly  could  not  have  escaped  if  his  opponents  had  had  but  a  little 
more  time  to  follow.  He  was  furious  with  rage,  and  choked  with 
chagrin  at  the  ignominious  fate  that  had  befallen  him,  and  yet,  inspired 
with  a  salutary  dread,  too,  by  the  lesson  he  had  received,  he  made  none 
too  active  preparations  to  revenge  himself. 

But  Pablo  thrust  under  his  nose  some  specimens  from  one  of  the 
bags  of  treasure  let  fall  during  the  flight. 

"  See  here,"  said  he,  "  this  is  the  kind  of  stuff  they  pick  up  at  the 
Barranca :  it  ought  to  be  good  enough  for  us.  Better  give  the  nuns' 
treasure  a  rest  for  a  while." 

From  that  moment  it  was  no  question  either  of  pursuing  General 
del  Prado  or  of  attacking — just  yet — Las  Delicias:  he  gathered  his 
whole  force  and  set  out  in  hot  chase  after  Don  Walter,  fired  by  the 
keenest  zest  for  gain. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

BATTLES  FROM  CAMPO   FLOBIDO  TO  LAKE  JORNADA. 

CORCOVEDO  counted  by  a  rapid  pursuit,  if  not  on  capturing  the 
fugitives,  on  forcing  them  to  throw  down  their  burdens,  the  securing  of 
which  was  far  more  important  for  him.  But  Don  Walter — pressing 
into  the  service,  besides,  all  the  mules  he  could  lay  hands  on  along  the 
way — got  an  extraordinary  speed  out  of  his  heavy-laden  men.  He 
hurled  great  rocks  down  into  the  path  behind  him,  and  covered  his 
march  with  a  small  rear-guard  which  kept  the  enemy  in  continual 
dread  of  being  ambuscaded. 

The  district  was  practically  deserted,  the  native  laborers  having  fled 
for  fear  of  being  seized  for  military  duty ;  all  doors  in  El  Jasmin  were 
tightly  closed,  only  a  few  dogs  came  out  and  barked  at  the  heels  of  the 
retreating  warriors.  At  night  the  rain  came  down  heavily,  and  they 
went  on  in  a  soaked  and  sodden  condition,  often  knee-deep  in  mud,  their 
fire-arms  rusting  even  as  they  bore  them.  At  midnight,  overcome  with 
fatigue,  they  camped  at  some  deserted  huts,  but  next  morning  an  ample 
breakfast  and  the  renewed  splendor  of  an  unclouded  sun  restored  their 
spirits. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  g(j 

Retreating  in  this  masterly  manner,  it  was  not  till  the  hamlet  of 
Huetongo  was  reached  that  they  were  overtaken  by  the  enemy,  and 
even  then  only  because  Walter  permitted  it.  He  thought  best  to  make 
a  stand  at  this  point,  and  he  fortified  himself  by  levelling  some  of  the 
small  houses  and  throwing  a  barricade  across  the  entrance  of  the  main 
street,  from  the  fonda  on  one  side  to  the  parish  church  on  the  other. 
He  felt  the  necessity  of  striking  a  blow  and  holding  the  adversaries 
severely  in  check,  otherwise*  they  would  press  too  closely  upon  the  ex 
pedition  at  the  critical  moment  of  entering  the  Barranca,  which  could 
not  but  have  a  disastrous  effect. 

Corcovedo  advanced  three  times  and  was  as  often  beaten  back,  and 
when  he  finally  made  himself  master  of  the  position — having  at  last 
adopted  the  policy  of  setting  fire  to  the  buildings  and  moving  by  slow 
and  cautious  approaches — he  found  it  had  been  deserted  some  time  be 
fore.  Straight  sticks,  simulating  musket-barrels,  and  hate  stuck  upon 
twigs  had  been  arranged  to  mislead  him.  So  enraged  was  he  at  the 
deception  and  at  his  loss  that  he  brutally  despatched  a  few  of  Walter's 
wounded  who  had  been  left  behind. 

He  came  up  with  the  retreating  party  anew  at  the  borders  of  the 
Barranca.  But,  thanks  to  the  stout  defence  at  the  breastworks,  the 
greater  part  of  the  treasure  was  already  at  the  bottom  of  the  trail. 
Again  a  skilful  rear-guard  hotly  contested  the  way.  Here,  too,  a  new 
subterfuge  was  employed.  Mules  with  mock  loads  of  treasure  and 
loudly-tinkling  bells  were  sent  down  by  misleading  paths,  and  also 
through  the  jungle  along  the  edge  of  the  chasm.  These  were  eagerly 
followed,  and  served  to  distract  attention  from  the  real  movements. 
The  valiant  rear-guard,  directed  by  Walter,  having  accomplished  all 
that  was  possible  above,  now  plunged  down  the  steep  descent.  They 
took  refuge  in  nooks  and  crannies,  and,  aided  by  skilful  sharp-shoot 
ing  from  below,  still  fired  back  with  telling  effect  upon  the  aggressors. 
Now  and  then  one  on  each  side  fell  in  his  tracks.  The  enemy  rolled 
down  huge  fragments  of  rock,  as  in  some  battle  of  the  giants ;  but  these, 
after  all,  were  more  terrifying  than  dangerous. 

The  train  was  well  on  its  way  again  along  the  bottom  of  the 
Barranca  before  Corcovedo's  men  fairly  entered  it.  As  they  formed 
and  began  to  press  forward,  they  were  startled  and  given  pause  for 
a  while  by  a  dire  explosion.  Walter  had  concentrated  all  his  remaining 
explosives  at  a  single  point,  and  now  fired  the  mine.  Its  effect  was  to 
remove  the  artificial  dike  thrown  up  by  the  late  earthquake  and  allow 
the  boiling  stream  to  rush  in  over  its  old  bed  once  more.  The  accumu 
lated  treasure  was  now  safely  hidden  from  every  human  eye.  Up  to 
this  last  moment  he  had  cherished  a  lingering  hope  of  being  able  to 
take  out  a  still  further  amount. 

Pablo,  for  his  part,  stared  round  the  cailon  with  greedy  and  fearful 
eye,  but  nothing  was  as  it  had  been  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  with 
his  master.  The  superstition  of  the  Yellow  Snake  still  held  good  with 
his  companions,  and  it  was  only  with  great  difficulty  that  some  of  them 
were  urged  forward.  Those  who  had  objected  most  strenuously  were 
joined  to  a  body  of  reinforcements  which  had  come  up  and  were  sent 
to  skirt  along  the  margin  "of  the  Barranca.  What  with  the  difficulties 


90  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

of  the  ground  and  the  caution  inspired  by  the  prowess  of  the  pursued, 
the  advance  below  was  necessarily  slow,  but  Corcovedo  said,  with  savage 
glee,— 

"  We  shall  take  them  presently  like  rats  in  a  trap." 

He  counted  on  pushing  them  from  behind  while  the  co-operating 
force  should  cut  them  off  on  their  exit  in  front.  Walter,  too,  saw 
this  danger,  and  he  began  to  be  weighed  down  by  a  heavy  depression. 
His  men  had  effected  prodigies  of  valor,  bat  as  likely  as  not  defeat  and 
destruction  finally  awaited  them.  Then,  too,  all  these  desperate  deeds 
had  been  done,  these  lives  had  been  lost,  and  he  felt  that  the  treasure, 
even  if  saved,  must  be  tinged  for  evermore  as  with  the  lurid  stain  of 
blood.  But  this  mood  was  not  of  long  duration :  his  indomitable 
courage  reasserted  itself.  There  was  hope  in  the  fact. that  the  force 
above,  making  their  way  by  a  route  which  they  opened  for  the  first 
time,  progressed  at  a  slower  rate  than  his  own.  He  urged  on  his  com 
mand  yet  faster,  doubling  and  again  tripling  their  pay  as  an  induce 
ment;  but  after  a  while  the  enemy  above  disappeared  from  sight,  and 
then  the  result  was  only  a  matter  of  conjecture.  In  this  march  fell  at 
last  poor  Trinidad  Jos6 ;  and  his  faithful  dog,  who  had  been  the  cause 
of  so  much  amusement,  having  stayed  behind,  pining  over  his  master's 
body,  came  to  be  despatched  by  a  cruel  blow  from  a  sabre. 

The  caflon  narrowed  rapidly  towards  its  termination.  At  this 
point,  to  which  the  mules  were  only  got  with  great  difficulty,  extended 
across  a  formidable  natural  mound  or  palisade.  As  Walter  neared  it, 
he  feared  every  instant  to  see  the  heads  of  foes  appear  above  it  from 
the  other  side,  but  he  was  not  yet  intercepted.  The  barrier  was  an 
excellent  place  behind  which  to  withstand  an  enemy  either  from  within 
or  without,  but,  naturally,  could  not  be  made  available  on  both  sides. 
He  determined  to  hold  it  against  the  pursuers  while  awaiting  the  return 
of  a  reconnoitring-party  sent  out  to  look  for  the  expected  boats  and  aid 
from  Captain  Perez.  Failing  these,  he  would  march  on,  and,  if  need 
were,  perish  on  the  shore  of  the  lake. 

From  the  top  a  scene  of  peculiar  beauty  and  grandeur  presented 
itself.  The  lake,  in  a  great  crater  ring,  formed  perhaps  by  the  same 
agencies  that  had  rent  the  grim  Barranca  through  the  mountain,  spread 
out  from  a  desolate  alkali-whitened  shore  in  front  to  vast  mountains 
beyond.  A  stepping-stone  as  it  were  to  the  mountains,  rose  a  green 
table-land  so  high  as  to  seem  almost  inaccessible,  and  among  the  peaks 
was  one  topped  with  snow  of  which  Walter  had  sometimes  caught 
glimpses  during  his  labors. 

The  lake  was  not  an  unbroken  stretch  of  water,  for,  besides  a  little 
rocky  island  of  conical  form,  it  had  frequent  expanses  of  the  extraordi 
nary  growth  known  as  chinampas,  a  kind  of  amphibious  meadow  more 
or  less  free  from  attachment  to  the  bottom,  and  often  so  light  as  to  be 
driven  before  the  winds.  Near  the  shore,  irregular  channels  extended 
among  them,  connecting  one  open  space  with  another. 

The  crack  of  rifles  in  a  new  attack  of  the  pursuers  had  already 
begun  when  the  searching-party  returned.  They  brought  back  with 
them  a  gruff  sort  of  individual  in  a  fur  cap,  who  proved  to  be  an 
American  named  Barnley.  He  belonged  to  a  command,  chiefly  com- 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  91 

posed  of  foreigners,  which  was  secreted  with  the  runaway  Kaufmann  in 
the  mountains,  waiting  to  take  part  in  the  expected  rising.  Captain 
Perez  had  communicated  with  Kauftnaun,  who  had  detailed  Barnley 
with  perhaps  a  corporal's  guard  of  men  to  assist  in  the  matter  of  the 
boats.  He  had  lately  come  down  from  the  wind-swept  mining  gorges 
of  Pachuca,  where  a  fur  cap  was  not  out  of  place,  and  he  chose  to 
wear  his  just  the  same  in  the  tropics  also. 

"  A  little  time's  been  lost  by  my  coming  back  with  your  men  to  see 
if  you  were  the  right  parties,"  said  he,  "  but  that's  better  than  making 
a  mistake.  You  can  have  two  canoas,  one  big  one,  pretty  heavy  and 
slow,  the  other  smaller  and  medium  fast,  but  they'll  carry  you,  and  they 
were  the  best  we  could  do  in  these  times.  This  end  of  the  lake  is 
pretty  well  skinned  of  boats,  and  it  has  mighty  few  at  any  time :  so  I 
don't  see  how  any  one's  going  to  follow  you." 

"  And  yet  we  had  no  time  to  lose,"  rejoined  Walter.  "  Hark ! 
there's  the  enemy's  other  division  cheering  now.  They  have  heard  the 
firing,  and  are  probably  coming  down  on  us.  We  may  be  even  now 
too  late  to  escape  them." 

"  They've  got  another  division,  have  they  ?" 

"  Yes  :  the  principal  one  is  above  there." 

"  I'm  glad  to  know  that,"  said  Barnley.  "  It  would  be  mighty 
inconvenient  for  Kaufmaun  to  have  them  come  on  him  unawares  after 
you've  given  them  the  slip.  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do :  if  you'll  take 
care  of  these  I'll  agree  to  stop  the  others  with  my  own  squad.  If  I 
can  get  to  the  Cajones — the  Boxes — in  time,  I  can  hold  them  as  long  as 
you  please.  The  Cajones  is  the  most  elegant  place  to  corner  a  com 
pany  you  don't  want  to  bother  you.  As  like  as  not  those  parties  won't 
get  here  before  to-morrow  morning." 

"  But  we  cannot  sacrifice  you  to  our  convenience." 

"  Oh,  don't  you  be  afraid  about  me.  I  know  plenty  of  holes  around 
there  to  hide  in  afterwards." 

Encouraged  by  the  distant  cheering  of  their  friends,  the  pursuers 
made  a  new  onset.  There  was  another  battle,  many  more  lives  were 
lost,  but  the  rear-guard  stood  firm  as  before,  and  under  cover  of  its 
defence  and  the  gathering  dusk  Walter  embarked  with  all  his  goods 
and  chattels  on  the  boats.  There  was  no  time  now  to  think  of  un 
earthing  any  other  treasure,  and  the  portion  he  had  buried  on  the  shore 
was  abandoned  to  wait  till  who  could  say  what  distant  day  in  the  dim 
future  before  it  should  see  the  light. 

Snap !  snap  !  from  the  pistols,  and  crack  !  crack  !  crack  !  from  the 
rifles  of  the  baffled  Corcovedo,  who  was  left  in  impotent  rage  on  the 
darkening  strand.  The  men,  sheltering  themselves  behind  the  piled-up 
bags,  plied  their  paddles  with  all  speed. 

The  canoas  were  clumsy  but  capacious  flat-boats  of  but  a  few  inches' 
draught.  When  the  night  settled  down,  all  lights  were  put  out,  that  their 
whereabouts  might  not  be  disclosed  to  the  enemy  if  by  any  chance  they 
were  followed.  Walter  remained  in  the  last  and  heaviest  of  them, 
which  was  the  post  of  danger.  Towards  midnight,  when  trying  to  get 
a  little  sleep  in  a  low  cabin  amidships,  he  was  aroused  by  a  dull  thud 
and  all-pervading  jar. 


92  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

"  The  chinampas !  the  chinampas  !"  called  out  the  alarmed  voices 
of  the  watch. 

The  wind  had  changed  and  insensibly  enclosed  them  in  the  clogging 
embrace  of  this  strange  vegetation.  A  hail  from  the  smaller  boat  in 
advance,  almost  immediately  after,  showed  that  it  had  met  with  the  same 
fate.  They  were  not  completely  surrounded,  and  the  men  worked  strenu 
ously  with  long  poles  to  free  themselves,  but  all  this  could  effect  nothing. 

The  chinampas  were  formed  of  a  nucleus  of  water-plants  closely 
interwoven.  Upon  this  a  thin  soil  had  formed  by  decomposition  ;  the 
mud  of  the  lake,  washing  over  them  in  storms,  and  the  dust  blown 
by  the  winds,  had  added  to  it ;  then  flowers,  reeds,  and  grasses  had 
sprung  up ;  the  thickness  varied  from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet,  and 
below  them  was  deep  water. 

Don  Walter  found  himself  condemned  to  pass  the  rest  of  the  night 
listening  to  the  frogs  and  watching  the  twinkling  fire-flies  in  the  marshes. 
He  was  like  one  in  a  nightmare,  who  feels  the  imperious  need  of  strain 
ing  every  nerve  for  flight  yet  is  benumbed  and  cannot  raise  hand  or 
foot.  Once  a  bluish  flame  danced  on  the  high  top  of  the  small  cone- 
shaped  island  of  La  Copa  which  lay  in  his  course.  His  fears  made 
it  seem  some  signal  of  the  enemy,  who  he  fancied  had  already  got  in  his 
van,  but  he  heard  one  of  the  men  say  it  was  only  "  the  witches'  fire,"  a 
kind  of  natural  will-o'-the-wisp  that  often  burned  there  and  indicated 
a  breeze  in  the  morning. 

When  morning  came,  however,  a  gray  mist  hung  for  a  while  over 
everything,  which  was  a  fortunate  circumstance.  Walter  recalled  the 
voyagers  shut  in  amid  the  ice-floes  of  the  Arctic.  The  boat  was  sur 
rounded  on  three  sides,  but  on  the  other  were  floating  islands  and  ir 
regular  tongues  and  fragments,  which,  though  numerous,  still  afforded 
prospect  of  escape.  The  men  were  got  out  and  put  in  a  kind  of  towing- 
harness,  and  a  mule  also  was  landed,  for  the  surface  was  sometimes 
strong  enough  even  to  support  grazing  cattle  and  the  native  huts.  But 
these  assistants  floundered  painfully  along, — one  of  the  men  being  only 
saved  from  sinking  out  of  sight  by  the  personal  bravery  of  Walter, — 
and  very  slow  progress  was  made. 

Meantime,  the  boats  had  been  put  in  as  good  a  state  of  defence  as 
possible.  Suddenly  the  fog  lifted  and  showed  that  this  was  a  precaution 
by  no  means  thrown  away,  for  the  enemy  were  approaching.  They  had 
by  some  means  secured  three  bateaux  of  their  own,  besides  a  number 
of  small  boats.  Their  large  craft  could  not  approach  closely,  it  is  true, 
for  the  same  reason  that  prevented  Walter's  progress,  but  no  such  limi 
tation  hindered  the  light  proas  and  chalupas  ;  these  darted  hither  and 
thither  at  will. 

Corcovedo  disembarked  on  the  chinampa  a  large  force,  in  charge  of 
experienced  guides.  His  men  avoided  the  weaker  spots,  screened  them 
selves  in  the  tall  rushes,  and,  when  they  had  come  within  range,  even 
crawled  on  their  hands  and  knees.  Don  Walter's  foremost  boat,  making 
a  desperate  push  under  dread  of  impending  capture,  finally  broke 
through  her  embarrassments  and  escaped  into  the  open  lake.  He 
signalled  her  not  to  attempt  to  render  him  assistance,  but  to  look  out 
for  her  own  safety. 


THE    YELLOW  SNAKE.  93 

The  combat  could  have  only  one  possible  issue.  Adversaries 
swarmed  on  nearly  all  sides  in  the  light  boats,  and  those  on  the  land 
presently  sprang  up  and  charged  with  fierce  yells  ;  they  entered  at  the 
bow,  the  stern,  and  amidships,  all  at  the  same  moment.  If  thrown 
back,  they  were  driven  on  again  by  the  swords  of  their  leaders,  whom 
a  taste  of  the  treasure  had  made  like  ravening  wolves.  So  this  strange 
combat  raged  in  the  marshes,  and  many  men  fell  in  death  among  the 
fragrant  flowers  through  which  they  had  crawled  in  their  energy  of 
pursuit.  Don  Walter  recognized  some  of  the  very  men,  of  the  Third 
Battalion  of  the  Line,  who  had  made  the  insolent  foray  into  the  garden 
the  day  he  was  with  Amy.  Pablo  drew  himself  stealthily  to  his  feet, 
among  the  bodies  on  the  deck,  and  attempted  to  stab  him,  but  was  cut 
down  in  the  act,  and  thus  that  revengeful  servitor  finally  met  his  end. 

When  the  young  commander  saw  that  no  further  shred  of  hope  re 
mained,  he  caused  a  white  flag  to  be  raised  on  an  oar  from  behind  a 
portion  of  the  cabin  which  he  had  kept  clear  as  a  last  refuge.  Having 
taken  this  step  in  the  hope  of  preventing  the  effusion  of  more  blood, 
he  himself,  as  in  supreme  despair,  plunged  overboard. 

The  victors  waited  for  him  to  come  up,  with  pieces  at  their  shoulders 
ready  to  fire.  But  he  did  not  reappear  at  all,  and  they  made  up  their 
minds  that  in  the  disappointment  of  his  utter  overthrow  he  had  put  an 
end  to  himself. 

Don  Walter,  however,  a  powerful  swimmer,  having  dived  beneath 
the  surface,  had  remained  there  so  long  a  time  that  he  was  all  but 
bursting,  and  then  came  up  among  the  sedges  on  the  border  of  a  piece 
of  the  terra  infirma  many  rods  away.  He  presented  but  the  merest 
fraction  of  his  visage  to  the  upper  air,  and  even  then  shots  were  being 
fired  in  his  direction  in  an  experimental  way. 

When  his  lungs  were  full  once  more,  he  dived  again,  this  time  with 
an  original,  almost  incredible,  plan.  It  was  his  purpose  to  swim  directly 
beneath  the  chinampa,  as  legend  related  that  bandits  had  sometimes 
done  when  pursued  after  their  attacks  on  commerce  in  similar  lakes. 

It  was  naturally  an  undertaking  full  of  great  peril.  He  propelled 
himself  swiftly  through  the  dark  and  murky  waters;  vine-like  tendrils 
and  roots  reaching  nearly  to  the  bottom  caught  him  and  impeded  his 
progress;  above  could  be  dimly  made  out  convoluted  masses  like  the 
Gorgon's  snaky  locks.  On  first  rising,  he  had  miscalculated  his  dis 
tance  :  his  head  touched  something  viscid  and  trammelling.  Conscious 
ness  grew  vague ;  surely  now  the  end  had  come — and  so  he  had  ended 
thus !  the  terrible  drumming  in  his  temples  grew  fainter,  the  suffoca 
tion  less  painful ;  his  motions  were  weak.  And  then,  and  then — with 
gasps  that  seemed  as  if  they  must  rend  a  human  frame  asunder,  he 
breathed  again;  he  no  longer  strangled;  he  saw  the  dear  sun:  never 
had  he  thought  to  look  upon  it  more. 

Lilies  yellow  and  white,  scarlet  poppies,  and  the  scarlet  water-pepper 
spangled  the  surface  on  which  he  dragged  himself  out  to  rest  his  weary 
limbs,  and  the  broken  spaces  of  water  reflecting  the  blue  sky  contrasted 
tenderly  with  the  soft  green  of  the  vegetation  :  how  could  heaven  ever 
permit  lust  of  gold,  suffering  and  slaughter,  in  so  smiling  a  prospect? 

When  Don  Walter  was  finally  received  on  board  the  remaining 


94  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

boat,  he  was  more  like  one  from  the  dead  than  a  living  man.  They 
had  been  about  to  turn  away  and  abandon  the  scene,  believing  not  a 
soul  had  escaped,  when  he  came  swimming  and  hailing  them,  a  long 
distance  out  from  the  so-called  land. 

This  boat,  commanded  by  Antonio  Gassol,  had  also  a  consort.  Perez 
in  person  had  come  out  with  another  boat,  of  small  size,  and  containing 
few  men,  but  these  were  all  that  could  be  spared  from  Rio  Frio.  They 
put  in  to  the  little  island  of  La  Copa,  a  solid  granite  rock  containing  a 
cup-like  crater.  The  enemy  could  be  seen  transferring  the  bags  of  gold 
and  their  prisoners  to  one  of  their  craft,  leaving  their  unwieldy  prize 
where  it  lay.  Perez  was  for  abandoning  what  they  had  lost,  great  as 
it  was,  and  retreating  to  save  what  still  remained  to  them. 

"  I  regret  it  beyond  measure,"  said  he,  "  and  I  am  the  last  man  in 
the  world  to  give  it  up  while  a  single  chance  offers,  but  I  bow  to  the 
inevitable,  and  there  is  not  a  thing  we  can  do." 

"  No,  no  !  I  will  never  give  it  up!  I  cannot  give  it  up !"  cried  Walter, 
in  an  agony  of  protest.  "  It  is  easy  for  you  to  advise,  you  who  have 
nothing  at  stake.  I  will  die  first !  it  is  my  life.  Oh,  why  did  I  not 
die  when  I  was  so  very  near  it?" 

He  wished  to  fortify  the  island  and  await  attack  there  till  Kauf- 
mann  could  be  communicated  with  in  the  mountains  and  brought  to 
join  them  in  an  offensive  movement. 

"  They  will  not  attack  us,"  said  Perez.  "  In  my  opinion,  they  will 
go  down  the  lake,  content  for  the  present  with  what  they  have,  and  will 
take  no  more  risks  upon  it." 

All  the  indications  seemed  to  confirm  what  he  said.  The  hamlet  at 
the  foot  of  the  rocky  peak  was  a  peaceful  place,  with  a  couple  of  ancient 
palm-trees  growing  beside  its  small  church,  and  the  water  off  the  shore 
deep  and  clear.  Its  principal  industry  was  the  making  of  mats  from 
the  rushes  of  the  lake.  Walter  saw  an  Indian  girl  go  in  a  chalupa  and 
deposit  some  of  these  in  a  canoa — of  a  much  swifter  build  than  most 
of  its  class — already  partly  loaded  with  them.  Instantly  a  daring  new 
conception  flashed  into  his  craving  mind. 

"Let  us  lure  them  on,"  he  proposed  to  Perez, — "tempt  them  with 
the  prospect  of  getting  the  rest  of  the  treasure  also.  You  and  Gassol 
must  pretend  to  fly  and  draw  the  others  after  you,  and  I  in  the  swift 
boat  will  play  the  lame  duck  with  Corcovedo  and  then  fall  upon  him 
by  surprise  and  capture  him." 

"  They  will  see  through  the  trick,"  rejoined  Perez  :  "  they  won't  be 
taken  in  by  it." 

He  gave  in  his  adhesion,  however,  to  a  plan  of  which  he  disap 
proved,  and  prepared  to  carry  out  his  part  in  it  with  a  kind  of  gloomy 
cheerfulness.  He  was  right  in  his  predictions.  Corcovedo,  flushed 
with  victory,  was  in  fact  drawn  after  them  by  the  surprising  spectacle 
of  the  much  weaker  party  awkwardly  coming  out  as  if  to  attack  him. 
He  baffled  them  by  keeping  his  small  flotilla  well  together,  however, 
and  then  they  had  really  to  fly. 

At  nightfall,  wholly  discomfited,  they  reached  the  landing-place 
from  which  they  were  to  start  for  Rio  Frio. 

But  under  cover  of  the  dark  night  Walter  made  one  last  desperate 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  95 

unheard-of  attempt.  With  a  picked  crew,  who  could  hardly  have 
known  how  mad  their  enterprise  was,  and  rowing  with  muffled  oars, 
he  pulled  away  and  found  Corcovedo's  bateau  at  some  distance  from 
the  others.  He  fell  upon  it  with  such  valor  and  fury,  born  of  his 
despair,  that  nothing  could  stand  before  him.  In  the  uncertainty  as  to 
whom  it  was  they  had  to  deal  with,  the  other  boats  fell  into  a  panic 
and  were  unable  to  render  any  assistance.  Don  Walter,  scarcely  able 
himself  to  credit  so  great  a  good  fortune,  found  himself  once  more 
the  master  of  all  his  treasures,  together  with  the  prisoners  who  had 
been  taken.  No  wild,  unreasonable  enterprise  was  ever  crowned  with 
happier  success. 

Sefior  Corcovedo — unless  drowned  in  the  attempt — had  escaped  to 
one  of  the  remaining  craft. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN,   AND  EMBARKATION. 

THE  tragic  hostility  drawn  out  by  Don  Walter's  expedition  had 
precipitated  the  revolution.  The  hour  had  struck  at  Rio  Frio,  the 
pronunciamiento  had  been  issued,  and  the  populace  had  ranged  them 
selves  for  the  struggle.  It  was  an  extraordinary  proof  of  friendship 
for  Walter  on  Perez's  part  to  have  absented  himself  from  affairs  of  the 
greatest  moment  at  such  a  time,  but  he  was  found  with  his  hands  trebly 
full  to  compensate  for  it. 

"  I  had  hoped  to  accompany  you  part  of  the  way,"  he  said,  "  but 
that  will  now  be  impossible.  There  is  not,  however,  the  least  need  of 
it.  You  have  developed  the  true  military  instinct :  it  is  you  who 
ought  to  lead,  and  I  to  follow." 

He  had  in  his  head  an  idea  of  a  sort  of  Pratorian  guard,  of  for 
eigners, — Kaufmann's  force  might  be  the  nucleus  of  it, — which  should 
support  the  Liberator  when  he  was  fairly  established,  to  serve  as  a  solid 
alliance  against  the  instability  of  his  own  countrymen,  and  he  proposed 
to  Walter  a  high  command  in  it. 

"  No,  no,"  responded  the  younger  man  :  "  all  that  I  have  done  has 
been  only  a  desperate  sort  of  invention  inspired  by  my  necessities.  It 
is  not  likely  I  could  repeat  it  in  any  other  cause.  I  should  have  no 
stomach  for  military  life  as  a  profession." 

"  Well,  well,  everybody  to  his  taste." 

The  arrangements  with  Captain  Carvajal  had  been  successfully 
made.  It  was  expected  that  Carvajal  himself  would  be  met  near 
Puebla,  and  from  there  he  would  send  with  them  an  accredited  agent 
of  his  own  to  put  them  in  possession  of  the  vessel,  to  which  a  swift 
messenger  had  already  been  despatched  with  orders.  General  del 
Prado  and  his  party  had  safely  reached  Rio  Frio  under  the  guidance 
of  Perez,  and  after  but  brief  delay  had  continued  on  their  journey. 
Perez  said  that  the  General  had  shown  himself  much  enraged  at  his 
involuntary  identification  with  the  revolution. 

"  It  was  really  a  pretty  good  joke  on  the  old  fellow,"  he  said,  laugh- 


96  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

ing.  "  Oh,  he  was  very  abusive  and  insulting  about  it.  He  was  even 
disposed  to  refuse  the  safe-conduct  I  offered  him.  '  I  will  not  join  your 
cause;  I  am  not  of  you;  I  want  nothing  to  do  with  it/  he  cried. 
'  Join  whom  or  what  you  please/  answered  I,  '  but  at  present  this 
young  lady  must  meet  her  ambassador.'  I  think  I  should  not  have 
stood  it  so  well  had  there  been  no  one  but  himself;  but  of  course  every 
thing  had  to  be  put  up  with  for  the  young  lady's  sake." 

"  And  how  were  they  likely  to  get  on  the  rest  of  the  way  ?" 

"  First-rate  :  the  road  offered  no  danger  then,  though  I  should  not 
like  to  promise  as  much  now." 

Walter's  cavalcade  was  semi-attached  to  the  train  of  a  large  military 
force  moving  towards  the  coast.  It  was  surrounded  with  a  peculiar 
consideration  through  the  efforts  of  Perez.  It  was  supposed,  somehow, 
to  be  especially  destined  for  the  Liberator,  whom  the  eyes  of  his  par 
tisans  were  every  moment  expecting  in  this  part  of  the  country.  In 
any  annoying  or  tedious  situation  it  was  only  necessary  to  cry  brusquely, 
"  Arms  for  the  General !  Supplies  for  the  General !"  to  have  room 
promptly  made  for  it  and  a  commodious  place  opened  to  the  front. 

There  were  plenty  of  wild  spirits  in  the  command,  however,  upon 
whom  it  was  necessary  to  keep  an  ever-vigilant  eye.  They  would  have 
been  glad  at  any  moment  to  plunder  the  haciendas  along  the  way,  but 
such  license  must  have  resulted  in  disaster,  and  Walter  repressed  it  with 
prudent  severity.  A  hot  fire  of  revolution  began  to  flame  up  around 
the  treasure-train  as  it  proceeded.  It  had  to  be  almost  constantly  in 
line  of  battle,  for  there  was  no  telling  at  what  point  the  danger  would 
break  out.  Puebla  had  expelled  its  garrison  and  declared  for  the  in 
surrection  ;  Tlaxcala  was  in  a  state  of  siege ;  and  more  or  less  successful 
revolt  was  heard  of  all  along  the  line  as  far  as  Orizaba  and  even  Cordoba. 

The  lovely  peak  of  Orizaba  at  length  hove  in  sight,  its  snowy  top 
showing  above  a  rugged  mass  of  rosy  red  amid  a  fertile  green  landscape. 
At  the  station  of  Esperanza  Walter  overtook  most  unexpected  friends. 
General  del  Prado  had  indeed  got  himself  into  trouble  by  his  abusive 
tongue.  It  appeared  that  the  enterprising  Captain  Carvajal  had  em 
ployed  his  leisure  in  a  small  operation  on  his  own  account.  He  had 
seized  the  railway-train  on  one  of  its  last  downward  trips,  in  spite  of 
a  semi-agreement  between  the  contending  parties  that  it  should  be  ex 
empt  from  capture,  and  held  the  passengers  for  ransom.  Most  of  them 
were  let  go,  but  General  del  Prado  and  his  party  were  held, — the  Gen 
eral  acting  upon  the  theory  that  even  the  reticence  of  common  prudence 
in  his  talk  would  be  construed  as  acquiescing  in  his  apparent  treachery. 

It  required  but  a  word  from  Walter  to  Carvajal,  in  the  peculiar 
relation  in  which  they  now  stood  to  each  other,  to  have  them  released. 
It  was  not  yet  too  late  :  the  American  minister  had  not  sailed,  and  they 
were  sent  on  to  him  with  some  apologies  and  a  strong  escort  to  Cordoba. 
He  was  awaiting  at  that  pleasant  town,  situated  on  high  ground  above 
the  dangerous  heats  of  the  Tierra  Oaliente,  the  departure  of  the  steamer. 

Amy  had  again  but  a  brief  glimpse  of  Walter.  She  saw  him, 
resolute,  martial-looking,  leading  his  men,  and  was  impressed  to  the 
utmost  with  a  sense  of  her  own  feebleness  at  the  sight  of  that  strong 
masculine  energy.  Ever  since  they  had  parted  in  the  garden  she  had 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  97 

been  thinking,  thinking,  thinking.  Was  she  to  go  back  to  New  York 
and  sum  up,  as  the  result  of  it  all,  simply  that  she  had  been  kissed  by 
a  handsome  man  in  Mexico  ?  She  tingled  with  shame  and  blushed  with 
pleasure  at  the  same  moment. 

"  Did  he  kiss  me  as  men  will  kiss  almost  any  silly  girl  who  will 

let  them?"  she  demanded  of  herself,  "or  can  I  expect— -expect 

Surely  he  is  too  honorable  to  have  treated  me  so,  unless  he  meant  to 
express  a  tender  affection." 

As  to  Don  Walter,  a  sort  of  sternness  had  settled  upon  him,  as  a 
result  of  his  incessant  battles,  labors,  and  hair-breadth  'scapes,  and  he 
had  at  the  moment  little  earnest  thought  for  anything  outside  of  his 
project.  So  great  were  the  difficulties  that  had  risen  all  around  him, 
and  so  great  those  that  might  easily  yet  remain,  that  he  thought  it  im 
possible  he  should  ever  get  out  of  the  country  with  his  gold.  It  was 
like  a  presentiment.  He  knew  he  should  be  stopped,  if  even  at  the  last 
moment,  and  wrecked  as  it  were  in  port.  He  only  said,  at  parting, 
"If  anything  should  happen  to  me, — if  I  should  never  come  back — " 
but,  seeing  her  face  blanch,  "  What  nonsense !  we  shall  meet  very 
soon  in  New  York." 

What  real  warrant  had  he  for  such  uneasiness,  now  that  he  was  so 
near  the  coast  ?  The  most  definite  one  he  could  formulate  was  that  his 
men,  finding  he  delivered  no  supplies  and  had  no  connection  with  any 
real  strategic  movement,  might  at  last  divine  the  truth,  and  fall  upon 
him  to  despoil  him  of  his  treasure.  What  meant  the  evasive  uncanny 
look  he  thought  he  surprised  sometimes  in  the  eyes  of  Antonio  Gassol  ? 
Treason  had  no  part  in  the  expedition  thus  far.  Surely  Gassol,  the 
trusty  lieutenant  and  efficient  helper,  had  not  learned  the  secret  and 
begun  to  cherish  thoughts  of  playing  him  false? 

As  to  supplies,  why  should  they  not  appear  to  be  delivered  on 
shipboard,  to  be  used  in  operations  along  the  coast?  He  soon  showed, 
in  fact,  an  order  from  the  Liberator  to  this  effect,  procured  for  him  by 
the  good  offices  of  Perez  and  brought  by  a  courier.  This  was  offered 
as  his  reason  for  separating  from  the  expeditionary  troops.  These 
latter  were  to  bide  awhile  at  Cordoba,  to  await  the  result  of  some 
Machiavellian  schemes  which  had  for  their  object  the  opening  of  the 
gates  of  Vera  Cruz,  which  still  adhered  to  the  government.  Naturally, 
Walter  could  not  enter  Vera  Cruz  with  them  even  if  the  bargain  were 
successful ;  for  what  he  carried  was  not  of  a  sort  to  pass  the  eyes  of  the 
custom-house  officers,  and  one  set  of  custom-house  officers  was  certain 
to  be  succeeded  by  another. 

The  mule-bells  of  his  winding  train  tinkled  through  dark  tropical 
forests  that  inspired  reflection  and  awe,  amid  plantations  of  coffee  and 
pineapple,  beneath  rich  parasitic  growths  of  orchid  and  bromelia,  and 
post-hamlets,  with  monumental  decayed  churches,  where  Indian  women 
with  trays  of  fruit  on  their  heads,  ignorant  of  the  wars,  gave  them 
smiling  greeting.  The  second  day  after  separating  from  the  troops, 
they  came  to  a  small  river,  which  they  crossed  by  means  of  a  basket 
suspended  on  a  raw-hide  cable,  the  animals  swimming.  Farther  up 
could  be  seen  an  ingenious  boldly-arched  foot-bridge  made  of  grape 
vines  swung  from  tree  to  tree.  At  this  place  they  heard  some  heavy 
VOL.  XLII.-7 


98  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

cannon-shots  from  the  direction  of  Vera  Cruz,  to  the  northward  of 
which  they  had  taken  their  course.  They  at  first  thought  the  city 
might  have  been  attacked ;  but  the  firing  was  of  too  short  duration. 

Antonio  Gassol  acted  in  an  odd  way  at  the  river,  seeming,  in  Wal 
ter's  nervous  fancy,  to  keep  back  on  the  rearward  bank  with  a  number 
of  the  laden  mules,  while  all  the  rest  went  forward.  The  young  com 
mander  felt  that  his  suspicions  were  highly  unjust,  but  broke  up,  not 
withstanding,  any  possible  project  of  this  kind.  He  was  also  warned 
by  the  agent  of  Carvajal  of  some  peculiar  doings ;  and  he  happened 
upon  Gassol  in  a  little  group  of  men  conferring  earnestly,  who  slunk 
away  at  sight  of  him  almost  as  if  detected  in  something  guilty.  They 
seemed  to  be  chiefly  those  who  had  been  held  as  prisoners  at  Lake 
Jornada,  and  who  might  thus  have  discovered  the  real  contents  of  the 
bags :  yet,  if  they  had  done  so,  why  had  there  been  no  evidence  of  it 
before  ?  After  this,  his  nervous  dread  grew  upon  him,  and  he  surprised 
himself  repeating  the  motto,  "  If  it  be  now,  'tis  not  to  come ;  if  it  be 
not  now,  yet  it  will  come."  But  there  was  nothing  he  could  do,  save 
to  redouble  his  circumspection  and  diligence,  and  he  endeavored  to  con 
duct  himself  in  all  respects  just  as  usual. 

He  sent  Carvajal's  lieutenant  and  two  of  his  own  men  to  look  out 
for  the  schooner  and  if  possible  have  her  in  readiness  against  his  arrival. 
Pray  heaven  there  had  been  no  "  norther"  to  blow  her  off  the  coast,  he 
murmured.  By  great  good  fortune,  they  found  her.  The  lieutenant 
boarded  her,  and  came  ashore  again  with  some  of  the  sailors,  and  the 
men  returned  to  say  that  she  was  standing  off  and  on  along  the  shore, 
ready  to  respond  to  their  wishes. 

That  night,  which  was  to  be  his  final  one  in  Mexico,  he  retired  late. 
He  could  have  slept  but  a  little  while — it  seemed  to  him,  so  full  of 
cares  was  he,  that  he  had  not  slept  at  all — when  he  was  suddenly 
awakened  by  the  loud,  discordant  cry  of  a  macaw  in  the  branches  over 
his  head. 

There  were  shadowy  forms  of  men  lurking  in  the  background,  and 
Antonio  Gassol  had  been  standing  beside  him  with  a  machete,  ready  to 
strike. 

Don  Walter  had  set  up  his  camp-bed  under  a  hastily-formed  shelter 
of  branches,  near  the  piled-up  treasure,  and  in  close  proximity  were 
some  of  the  sailors  from  the  schooner.  He  had  never  anticipated  any 
personal  harm,  but  only  at  most  that  some  of  the  animals  might  be 
run  off  with  their  precious  burdens ;  but  now  he  woke  to  confront  bold 
murder. 

The  sudden  cry  of  the  macaw,  as  if  a  providential  note  of  inter 
position,  had  unsteadied  the  hand  of  the  assassin  for  an  instant,  and  in 
this  brief  instant  again  Walter  found  his  opportunity.  Catching  the 
central  support  of  his  cot,  already  somewhat  rickety  from  hard  cam 
paigning,  he  brought  the  whole  to  the  ground,  throwing  himself  with 
all  his  force  at  the  same  time  to  the  outer  side.  The  blow  had  therefore 
to  descend  a  much  longer  distance  than  calculated,  and  so  miscarried. 
A  second  blow  was  resisted  by  muffling  blankets,  and  resulted  only  in 
a  flesh-wound  on  his  shoulder,  and  before  a  third  could  be  aimed 
Walter  was  on  his  feet  with  his  revolver  in  his  hand. 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  99 

The  would-be  assassin  escaped  the  shot,  and  ran  through  the  camp, 
rallying,  his  compatriots  after  him,  and  all  fled  together  to  the  deeper 
heart  of  the  woods.  They  were  but  a  small  minority  of  the  force,  the 
ringleaders  having  counted  on  winning  over  the  rest  after  the  first 
blows  had  been  successfully  struck  and  the  advantage  was  apparent. 
The  flight  of  Gassol  would  have  ended  the  whole  nefarious  attenlpt,  but 
that  he  was  to  receive  aid  from  a  most  unexpected  quarter. 

What  it  was  can  best  be  explained  by  returning  briefly  to  the  for 
tunes  of  Amy  Colebrook.  She  entered  "Vera  Cruz  just  as  the  plot  for 
its  betrayal  had  broken  out  in  some  active  manifestations  among  the 
lower  class.  This  plot  was  to  fail,  however,  through  lacking  the  co 
operation  of  the  time-battered  fortress  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa.  The 
garrison,  on  their  isolated  rock  in  the  roadstead,  a  mile  or  two  from 
shore,  mutinied  according  to  the  plan,  but  their  eiforts  were  baffled  by  the 
intrepidity  of  a  single  person,  their  commanding  officer.  He  loaded  a 
cannon  with  grape  and  discharged  it  into  their  ranks  as  they  advanced 
upon  him.  Again  and  again  they  moved  forward,  but  still  he  fired 
with  telling  effect.  Then,  disheartened  at  their  losses,  and  unwilling  to 
delay  further,  they  took  numerous  boats  lying  at  the  landing-place,  and 
pulled  off  to  aid  their  friends  in  the  town. 

But  the  government  adherents  had  gained  courage  from  this  apparent 
rebuff  to  deal  vigorously  with  the  revolt  around  them.  They  were 
ready  drawn  up  in  force  at  the  edge  of  the  quay,  and  received  the  boats 
with  a  destructive  fire.  Some  begged  for  quarter,  and  were  taken, 
others  foundered  outright,  and  a  few  of  those  in  the  rear  made  off  to 
the  northward  and  succeeded  in  landing  on  the  shore.  As  Amy's 
steamer  sailed  out  of  port,  the  fusillade  of  this  combat  was  her  last  view 
of  that  country  so  blessed  by  the  bounty  of  nature,  but  marred  by  the 
perversity  of  man. 

The  mutineers  from  the  boats  took  to  the  woods ;  there,  after  a 
brief  season  of  wandering,  they  encountered  the  band  of  Gassol,  who, 
having  happily  made  their  acquaintance  without  coming  to  blows,  pro 
posed  to  them  a  new  affair.  Unscrupulous  runagates  as  they  were, 
they  were  readily  taken  by  the  promise  it  afforded. 

It  was  very  early  in  the  morning.  Don  Walter,  feeling  it  impolitic 
to  give  his  men  too  much  time  for  reflection,  had  summoned  them  to 
begin  loading  the  boats  even  before  the  last  stars  had  paled  from  the 
sky.  A  little  creek  afforded  a  favorable  point  of  embarkation  and 
shelter  for  the  boats.  At  dawn  all  hands  were  actively  engaged  at 
work,  watched  over  only  by  a  small  guard.  In  this  supreme  moment 
of  deliverance  arose  perhaps  a  more  imminent  peril  than  any  that  had 
yet  been  encountered.  The  confederates  burst  from  the  woods  in 
superior  force  and  charged  with  shouts  that  inspired  dismay. 

By  what  beneficent  happening  was  it,  however,  that  a  small  body 
of  sailors,  who  had  ascended  the  creek  to  recover  a  boat  that  had  drifted 
a  little  way  up  with  the  tide,  were  just  then  on  their  return  ?  They 
were  in  the  thicket  in  such  a  way  that  it  was  possible  for  them  to  take 
the  assailants  at  close  quarters  in  both  flank  and  rear.  Their  numbers 
were  magnified  by  their  concealment.  Their  wholly  unexpected  fire 
staggered  the  marauding  ranks  and  stopped  their  progress.  The  men 


100  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

at  the  boats  re-formed  behind  trees,  the  mules,  anything  and  everything 
that  afforded  a  semblance  of  shelter,  and  the  tables  were  quickly  turned  ; 
the  fierce  assailants  were  scattered  right  and  left,  and  forced  to  fly  in 
wild  confusion,  leaving  a  large  number  of  slain  upon  the  ground. 

Don  Walter's  heart  sickened  within  him  at  the  sight  of  dead  bodies 
once  more.  Here  lay  many  of  those  who  had  fought  bravely  for  him 
at  Huetongo,  at  the  Barranca,  and  at  the  Lake.  There  lay,  riddled 
with  balls,  the  disfigured  corse  of  Antonio  Gassol.  He  could  not  but 
think  that  this  man,  of  a  good  natural  disposition,  had  meant  to  be  all 
that  was  faithful  and  honest  in  his  mission,  but  he  had  fluttered  like  a 
moth  into  the  candle,  and  succumbed  to  a  temptation  beyond  the 
strength  of  his  weak,  human  nature ;  this  fatal  gold  had  drawn  him  on 
to  madness  and  crime.  For  him,  truly  might  the  old  tradition  of  ill 
luck  in  the  Yellow  Snake  have  been  deemed  verified. 

There  was  no  occasion  now  for  further  delay.  The  glorious  light 
of  rosy  morning  filled  the  sky  and  flushed  the  sea  that  lay  like  a  floor 
beneath  it,  giving  to  the  latter  tender  tints  of  pink  and  green  ;  and 
amid  all  these  opalescent  hues  glowed  the  milky-white  sails  of  the 
schooner,  gently  swelled  with  a  favoring  breeze. 

The  violence  of  the  winds  and  waves  was  yet  to  be  encountered,  it 
is  true,  but  these  were  of  little  moment  compared  to  the  malevolence  of 
men. 

For  wellnigh  a  month  he  was  tossed  hither  and  yon,  was  beset  by 
all  the  obstacles  by  which  winged  craft,  at  the  mercy  of  the  great  deep, 
may  be  detained.  Then,  at  last,  he  sailed  up  the  long,  beautiful  bay, 
between  the  minor  cities  on  either  hand,  joined  the  illimitable  perspec 
tive  of  masts,  and  was  at  New  York. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

"  GOLD  IN  THE  BAB  IS  THE  STILLNESS  OF  DEATH  ;  MINTED  GOLD  IS  LIFE." 

NEW  YORK,  after  unmeasured  trial  and  tribulation  !  New  York, 
— practically  for  the  first  time. 

The  tall  buildings  of  lower  Broadway,  with  their  fantastic  sky 
lines,  suggested  again  his  Barranca  of  Cimarron.  He  recognized  al 
most  at  once  the  gilded  letters  that  spelled  out  the  name  of  the  bank 
of  which  his  father  had  been  president,  and  which  had  been  the  prin 
cipal  scene  of  the  disgrace.  Who  that  did  not  know  could  have  con 
ceived  any  connection  between  this  edifice  amid  the  thick  bustle  of  the 
great  thoroughfare  of  the  metropolis,  with  its  ornate  fa9ade,  its  polished 
mahogany  and  plate-glass,  and  its  affable  officials  behind  the  counters, 
who  had  done  business  ever  since,  no  doubt,  upon  strictly  honest  prin 
ciples,  and  the  dark,  half-ruined  house  at  Resales  where  his  youth 
had  been  passed  ?  His  father  had  kept  none  of  the  embezzled  funds 
for  himself,  it  is  true,  but  this,  though  often  weakly  urged  by  some  as 
a  palliation,  was  none  to  Walter.  His  rigid  ideas  of  integrity  told  him 
that  the  money  had  gone  in  reckless  speculations,  of  which  others  had 
had  to  take  all  the  risks.  Walter  had  first  seen  the  name  of  the  bank 
on  some  random  old  check-blank  at  Resales,  found  in  a  worm-eaten 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  101 

cabinet  that  might  almost  have  come  down  from  the  time  of  the  Flood. 
A  slight  memorandum,  retained  from  among  his  father's  papers,  had 
long  been  his  constant  companion.  It  had  served  as  a  sort  of  fetich 
and  stimulus,  too,  in  his  labors,  and  now  furnished  an  indication  where 
to  begin  his  work  of  restitution.  He  secured  eminent  counsel,  and  the 
survivors  and  heirs  of  survivors  of  "  the  Great  Ridgefield  Defalcation" 
of  years  long  gone  by  soon  began  to  hear  of  legal  measures,  and  to 
receive  queries  that  set  many  hearts  beating  with  hope  and  pleasure. 

Walter's  wound  in  the  shoulder  had  been  aggravated  by  the  voyage, 
but  he  allowed  neither  this  suffering  nor  any  other  diversion  to  draw 
him  away  from  his  main  object  till  every  necessary  step  had  been  taken. 
The  gold  was  conveyed  from  the  hold  of  the  schooner  to  the  United 
States  Assay-Office.  The  rude  smelting  it  had  received  would  not  do 
for  its  final  state,  and  it  had  to  be  subjected  anew  to  treatment.  Pend 
ing  this,  however,  certificates  to  a  large  amount  of  its  value  were  issued, 
which  could  be  used  in  the  negotiations.  At  length,  when  every  pos 
sible  preliminary  had  been  attended  to,  then,  and  then  only,  he  suc 
cumbed  to  illness  beyond  his  strength  to  resist.  He  would  have  had 
himself  taken  to  a  hospital,  but  the  head  of  the  law  firm  to  which  he 
had  committed  his  affairs  would  by  no  means  listen  to  this.  He  was 
impressed  with  admiration  by  a  magnanimity  far  beyond  that  met  with 
in  the  ordinary  range  of  practice,  and  conveyed  him  to  his  own  home 
instead,  where,  during  a  short  but  dangerous  illness  that  followed,  he 
was  his  only  friend. 

Walter  Arroyo,  now  Ridgefield,  seemed  to  make  it  a  sad  sort  of 
luxury  to  keep  away  from  Amy.  He  let  her  know  of  his  arrival  and 
of  his  safety,  but  nothing  further.  She  was  there  in  the  same  city,  and 
he  might  go  to  her  at  any  moment.  If  he  went,  it  would  be  but  for 
one  purpose ;  and  he  did  not  wish  to  go  till  the  money  had  been  paid 
back  to  her  family.  But  if  he  proposed  to  her  now,  would  it  not  be 
exacting  an  unmanly  advantage  through  some  natural  sense  of  obli 
gation  on  her  part?  Surely  his  fancy  was  a  little  overwrought  and 
morbid.  He  doubted  whether  the  disgrace  could  ever  really  be  got  rid 
of,  whether  the  name  could  ever  be  cleared  of  the  stigma  so  long  at 
tached  to  it. 

Then,  too,  one  day  he  was  greeted  by  a  staggering  blow :  the  entire 
sum  he  had  brought  had  been  used  up  in  the  payment  of  the  debt. 
He  seemed  to  have  made  some  sort  of  miscalculation :  he  was  apprized 
from  the  mint  that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  metal  had  fallen  below 
the  standard  roughly  fixed  upon  it  in  his  estimate.  As  a  consequence, 
instead  of  having  a  liberal  sum  left  to  draw  upon,  after  all  the  obliga 
tions  were  met,  nothing  would  remain  for  himself.  He  proceeded  at 
once  to  find  a  more  modest  abode,  and  took  steps  to  procure  employ 
ment  in  his  profession  as  an  engineer. 

Nevertheless,  for  all  his  holding  back,  and  for  all  his  juggling  with 
the  dearest  passion  of  his  heart,  he  meant  to  see  Amy,  and  was  counting 
the  very  seconds  till  the  moment  arrived.  An  article  appeared  in  one 
of  the  more  temperate  and  dignified  of  the  newspapers,  giving  some 
account  of  the  whole  affair.  It  was  founded  upon  a  statement  by  his 
counsel.  That  gentleman  had  only  been  kept  from  giving  it  to  the 


102  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

press  hitherto  by  his"  express  prohibition,  but  now  at  last  he  boldly 
disregarded  this. 

"  I  hold  myself  responsible,"  he  said,  warmly.  "  I  have  done  it, 
perhaps,  even  at  the  risk  of  a  violation  of  confidence.  Have  you  not 
been  defeating  your  own  end  by  the  unostentatious  course  you  have 
adopted,  and  by  the  obscurity  in  which  you  have  chosen  to  shroud  the 
source  of  the  reimbursement  even  from  all  those  who  have  enjoyed  its 
benefits  ?  The  atonement  ought  to  have  as  much  publicity  as  the 
original  scandal." 

"  But  the  terrible  publicity  of  it,"  objected  the  young  man,  though 
he  was  more  than  half  convinced  that  the  other  was  right. 

"  Oh,  these  things  very  soon  pass  over,  and  just  leave  a  good  general 
effect  behind,"  responded  the  lawyer,  reassuringly. 

"  Those  of  our  citizens  who  have  reached  middle  life,"  said  the 
newspaper  in  question,  "  will  still  recall  the  startling  effect  upon  this 
community  produced  by  the  failure  and  flight  of  the  late  Randolph 
Ridgefield.  The  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved  made  it  the  most 
notable  event  of  the  kind  in  financial  history,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it 
has  ever  been  surpassed,  even  with  our  larger  way  of  doing  things  in 
these  times.  The  unfortunate  Randolph  Ridgefield  died  in  pov 
erty  in  Mexico.  His  son,  Walter  Ridgefield,  Esq.,  a  young  man  of 
great  ability  and  force  of  character,  has  meantime,  by  his  own  un 
aided  industry,  acquired  a  large  fortune  in  that  country.  He  lately 
arrived  here,  and,  we  learn  upon  the  best  authority,  has  devoted  not  a 
part  only,  but  the  whole  of  it,  to  making  good  the  losses  occasioned  by 
the  transactions  of  his  father.  He  has  even  employed  the  services  of 
expert  detectives  to  find  out  remote  and  obscure  heirs,  to  be  reached  in 
no  other  way,  that  not  the  smallest  fraction  of  the  debt  might  remain 
uncancelled.  Within  the  past  few  days  most  of  the  money  has  been 
paid  out  over  the  counters  of  the  Excelsior  Bank,  where  it  was  depos 
ited  with  a  peculiar  fitness,  as  Randolph  Ridgefield  was  at  the  head  of 
this  institution  at  the  time  of  the  disaster.  Several  touching  and  pleas 
ant  incidents  are  reported  in  connection  with  the  settlement  of  these 
ancient  claims.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  all  will  prove  to  be  the 
repayment  of  the  numerous  depositors  of  the  old  Ridgefield  Savings- 
Bank,  the  incidental  collapse  of  which  was  one  of  the  most  painful 
features  of  the  disaster.  We  may  easily  imagine  the  elation  of  the 
humble  class  of  persons  whose  little  all  was  swept  away  on  that  occa 
sion  to  find  their  hard  dollars  restored  to  them.  Many,  no  doubt,  will 
find  themselves  raised  from  poverty  and  distress  to  comparative  affluence. 

"  When  we  consider  the  great  lapse  of  time,  the  absence  of  any  legal 
responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  giver,  and  the  vastness  of  the  sum,  a 
step  of  this  kind  cannot  but  arouse  our  warmest  admiration.  No  com 
pleted  evil  can  ever  be  wholly  repaired,  it  is  true ;  but  rarely  can  there 
have  been  so  near  an  approach  to  entire  reparation  as  that  we  chronicle 
to-day.  The  proceeding  will  no  doubt  seem  quixotic  to  that  interesting 
class  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  have  betaken  themselves  just  across  the 
northern  frontier  and  bid  fair  by  their  numbers  and  wealth  to  found 
there  a  new  aristocracy  based  upon  spoliation  like  that  of  mediaeval 
barons,  but  we  are  free  to  confess  that,  in  our  view,  no  more  generous 


THE   FELLOW  SNAKE.  103 

action,  and  none  more  calculated  to  have  an  invigorating  effect  upon  too 
lax  notions  of  commercial  morality,  has  been  performed  in  our  times." 

The  day  after  this,  there  arrived  for  Walter,  through  his  banker,  a 
note  from  Amy,  saying, — 

"  Was  it  you,  then  ?  It  seems  too  incredible.  Will  you  not  come, 
if  only  for  a  moment,  to  let  me  thank  you  for  your  great  kindness  ?" 

Then  finally  Walter  went  to  the  Bella  Vista  Flats,  near  the  Park. 
The  Bella  Vista  had  on  a  small  scale  many  of  the  external  adornments 
of  more  costly  and  ambitious  flats,  with  none  of  their  conveniences. 
Its  rooms  were  small  and  many  of  them  dark,  the  Colebrooks  were 
high  indeed  in  the  air,  and  there  was  no  elevator.  Their  rooms,  too, 
showed  some  disorder. 

"Do  not  look  at  anything,"  protested  Amy.  "We  are  moving 
already.  We  have  danced,  wept,  and  prayed  with  joy 'and  gratitude 
over  our  good  fortune,  and  are  getting  ready  to  reap  the  benefit  of  it 
without  an  instant's  further  loss  of  time." 

Don  Walter  met  her  mother,  and  her  younger  sisters  and  an  older 
one  also,  with  all  of  whom  he  was  well  pleased,  while  they  were  in 
clined  to  look  upon  him  as  if  he  were  a  god  but  very  thinly  disguised, 
instead  of  a  common  mortal.  He  met,  too,  her  friend  Emily  Win 
chester,  the  "  Dear  Emily"  of  the  letters  from  Mexico,  and  the  one 
who  had  charged  herself  with  re-mailing  his  letters  when  he  had  pre 
tended  to  be  in  New  York.  She  also  was  rather  pretty  in  her  dark 
type,  forming  a  considerable  contrast  to  that  of  Amy.  She  went  away 
very  shortly,  leaving  behind  for  Amy  an  ever-so-slightly-meaning 
smile,  at  which  the  latter  blushed  very  deeply,  though  there  was  no 
chance  that  Walter  could  have  seen  it. 

He  found  it  a  little  difficult  to  conceive  of  Amy  apart  from  the 
bloom,  the  fragrance,  the  stately  terraces  and  plashing  fountains  of  Las 
Delicias,  with  which  she  seemed  to  be  thoroughly  identified  :  still,  there 
was  a  new  charm  of  domesticity  about  her  in  these  surroundings. 

"  What  a  delight  it  is  to  me  to  see  you  again  !"  he  exclaimed,  with 
unavoidable  enthusiasm,  and  taking  her  hand  warmly.  "  Will  you  let 
me  tell  you  how  beautiful  you  are  ?" 

"  If  you  can  be  so  wholly  reckless  of  the  truth." 

"  We  have  been  through  so  much  together,  it  seems  as  if  we  ought 
never  to  part  again.  How  many  other  girls  would  have  done  for  me 
all  that  you  have  done  ?" 

"  Some  millions,  I  suppose." 

"  No,  no ;  not  one." 

"  But  what  is  this  dreadful  story  I  hear  about  your  having  nothing 
left  for  yourself?" 

"  It  is  true.  With  the  shrinkage  at  the  Mint,  the  extraordinary  ex 
penses,  the  portion  still  left  behind  at  Lake  Jornada,  and  the  smaller 
portion  that  in  spite  of  us  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  all  is  gone. 
The  surplus  I  had  counted  upon  has  disappeared." 

"  No,  no !  I  will  not  have  it  so !  it  is  a  shame !"  protested  Amy, 
indignantly.  "  I  cannot  answer  even  for  the  rest  of  the  Colebrook 
family,  who  may  be  inclined  to  selfishness, — though  they  shall  hear 
from  me  at  once, — but  do  you  think  I,  who  saw  your  hardships  and 


104  THE   YELLOW  SNAKE. 

your  bravery,  will  take  my  share  while  you  are  in  want  ?    No,  indeed  : 
so  much  at  least  still  remains  to  you." 

"  It  is  no  more  than  I  might  have  expected  from  your  generous 
heart,  but  I  assure  you  honestly  I  do  not  miss  the  gold ;  I  never  really 
felt  that  it  was  mine,  and  when  I  think  of  all  the  blood  and  suffering 
that  rest  upon  it,  I  am  very  certain  I  shall  be  better  off  without  it." 

"  Such  unselfishness  is  not  quite  in  human  nature.  Take  care !  I 
do  not  like  people  who  are  too  unselfish  ;  they  are  apt  to  die  young.  If 
you  are  not  moderately  human,  I  shall  not  approve  of  you." 

"  Of  course,  if  I  had  known  how  it  was  coming  out,  I  might  have 
made  some  different  arrangement, — perhaps  have  paid  only  a  part  of 
the  interest ;  but  what  is  done  is  done,  and  I  am.  not  sorry." 

"  No,  it  is  too  wicked.     I  will  not  have  it  so." 

"  You  see,  I  come  here  and  talk  of  my  woes,  in  spite  of  the  obvious 
suggestiveness  of  the  thing,"  pursued  Walter,  smiling.  "There  is 
just  one  way  that  occurs  to  me :  we  might  share  it, — if  you  were  willing." 

His  hearer  colored  again  most  deeply,  this  time  with  the  best  of 
reason. 

"  After  all,  I  do  not  feel  poor,"  he  continued,  hopefully.  "  I  shall 
be  ridden  by  no  more  nightmare,  I  am  a  free  man,  I  begin  the  world 
on  even  terms.  If  you  thought  well  of  the  name  of  Ridgefield,  now,  I 
would  like  to  say — I  would  like  to  tell  you  how  very  dearly  I  love 
you.  Had  you  ever  suspected  it  might  be  so  ?" 

The  tangles  of  her  bright  hair  drifted  against  his  temples,  and  her 
soft  cheek  rested,  as  once  before,  against  his  bronzed  one  that  had  known 
so  many  hardships. 

"  When  you  kissed  me  in  Mexico,  I  felt — I  hoped  you  were  fond 
of  me.  But  you  tried  me  terribly,  do  you  know  ?" 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  must  have  done  so.     How  can  you  forgive  me  ?" 

Letters  came  to  them  from  Mexico.  The  good  aunts  Arroyo  wrote 
to  Walter,  "  You  will  have  a  sweet  bride ;  we  remember  her  very  well : 
you  are  fortunate  in  your  marriage,  and  when  peace  is  declared — for 
come  some  time  it  will — you  must  bring  her  here  to  see  us,  child  of  our 
hearts." 

They  wrote  that  the  country  was  still  torn  by  bitter  strife,  and 
neither  of  the  great  parties  seemed  strong  enough  to  put  the  other 
down.  The  star  of  Captain  Perez,  they  said, — their  tone  about  him 
was  not  disrespectful  now, — was  in  the  ascendant.  He  had  risen  more 
and  more  to  prominence  in  the  Liberator's  forces,  till  he  might  be 
ranked  as  next  in  authority  to  the  commander  himself.  The  Jefe 
Politico  had  been  killed  in  a  skirmish  near  the  Barranca  of  Cimarron, 
over  which  district  Perez  had  still  maintained  some  supervision.  The 
story  recalled  the  fate  of  the  ancient  King  William  Rufus  in  the  New 
Forest:  his  body  had  been  found  in  the  woods  by  a  charcoal-burner. 
Walter  fancied  he  divined  the  reason  of  the  Jefe's  presence  there,  and 
he  breathed  freer  henceforth  at  the  thought  that  this  eager  spirit  was  no 
longer  to  be  feared  as  a  prowler  among  the  caves  of  the  treasure. 

Not  long  after  their  wedding-day  there  came  a  letter  from  Dofia 
Beatriz,  forwarded  by  an  intermediary.  She  was  dead.  And  her  end, 
according  to  the  report  of  Sister  Praxedis,  had  been  very  peaceful  and 


THE   YELLOW  SNAKE.  105 

edifying.  The  Sefioritas  Arroyo  also  wrote  about  her  death,  saying, 
"  She  was  regardless  of  her  health  in  the  practice  of  her  strict  devotions. 
She  fell  ill  just  about  the  time  the  news  of  your  marriage  came." 

Amy's  eyes  were  moist  with  tears  as  she  in  her  turn  read  this  letter. 
It  was  the  brief  last  message  of  one  feeling  that  death  was  near.  "  I 
was  not  strong  enough  to  withstand  the  temptations  of  this  world,"  it 
read,  "  and  in  leaving  it  I  have  but  one  regret, — that  I  may  have  been 
a  stumbling-block  and  an  evil  influence  in  your  path.  If  God  in  his 
infinite  goodness  should  ever  pardon  my  great  transgression,  I  would 
pray  that  my  happiness  in  heaven  might  be  to  hover  over  you  with  the 
warmth  of  a  pure  and  hallowed  aifection,  free  from  desire  that  you 
should  ever  know  or  return  it,  and  to  guard  you  from  some  pain  or 
trouble  that  might  otherwise  come  to  you." 

It  read  like  a  strain  of  mournful  music.  It  was  a  cry  of  hapless 
love  that  had  been  its  own  destruction,  an  appeal  to  that  life  beyond 
where  all  the  baffled  hopes  of  this  world  may  yet  be  made  good. 

"  She  loved  you  more  than  I,"  murmured  Amy,  sadly. 

In  time  there  came  news  that  the  political  sky  was  brightening.  It 
began  to  appear  probable  that  the  treasure-beds  in  the  Barranca  of 
Cimarron  and  the  gold  buried  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Jornada  might 
yet  once  again  be  reached. 


THE   END. 


106 


MY  EXPERIENCE  AS  AN  ADVENTURESS. 


MY  EXPERIENCE  AS  AN  ADVENTURESS. 

I  HAVE  no  suspicion  that  I  ever  have  been  called  an  Adventuress. 
I  think  no  insult  would  hurt  me  more. 

Yet  what  more  am  I,  when  every  act  of  my  life  is  a  venture? 
What  else  am  I,  when  adventure  or  misadventure  form  the  whole 
ensemble  of  my  existence  ? 

Is  it  not  an  adventure  when  I  start  out  upon  every  journey  I  ever 
take,  not  knowing  in  the  least  how  I  am  ever  to  get  back  again, — 
usually  not  knowing  even  how  I  am  to  be  fed  or  where  lodged  when 
I  reach  that  journey's  end  ?  Is  it  not  venturesome  and  adventurous 
that  I  never  send  a  dress  to  a  dress-maker  with  any  certainty  that  I  can 
ever  take  it  away  again,  or  that  it  does  not  thus  join  the  others  I 
have  already  been  obliged  to  resign  because  of  not  having  the  money, 
after  buying  them,  to  pay  for  their  making  ?  Is  it  not  the  life  of  an 
adventuress  to  be  always  uncertain  whether  Saturday  night  will  find 
me  a  free  woman  or  the  cowering  slave  of  my  landlady's  frown  ?  Is 
it  not  the  life  of  an  adventuress  incessantly  to  rob  all  Peters  to  pay  all 
Pauls,  and  vice  versat — to  refresh  the  skirt  of  1884  with  that  of  1885, 
adding  to  them  the  bodice  of  1886,  rejuvenated  with  sleeves  of  1887, 
and  fresh  trimmings  of  the  present  Year  of  Our  Lord,  pretending  to 
the  world  that  all  is  a  synchronous  creation  fresh  from  the  modiste  f 
Is  it  not  an  adventuress  habit  to  wear  boots  in  odds,  ditto  gloves,  in 
societies  that  would  shudder  at  the  thought  of  such  a  thing  ?  to  sit  in 
cog,  in  the  highest  seats  of  the  theatre  and  lie  in  under-water  berths  of 
steamers  ?  to  wiggle  and  twist  and  writhe  and  crawl  among  all  hard 
necessities,  and  yet  to  cheat  the  world  into  the  idea  that  life  is  a  merry 
affair  and  that  I  never  had  a  mortification  or  a  deprivation  since  I  came 
into  it? 

The  ordinary  adventuress  adventures  to  gain  by  others'  loss.  An 
extraordinary  adventuress,  such  as  I  am,  adventures  to  benefit  herself 
in  spite  of  fate  and  to  nobody's  loss  save  the  waste  of  prophecy  to  the 
knowing  ones  who  declare  she  will  yet  come  to  grief. 

Like  more  ordinary  adventuresses,  I  live  beyond  my  means.  I 
board  in  a  stylish  house  upon  Murray  Hill,  when  a  woman  of  less  ad 
venturous  mind  would  grovel  in  Tenth  Street  or  Washington  Square. 
I  always  pay  my  board  by  hook  or  by  crook,  but  when  I  ever  pay  it 
promptly  two  weeks  in  succession  my  sense  of  superior  virtue  becomes 
insufferable — to  myself.  I  always  inform  my  landlady  that  it  is  abso 
lutely  impossible  for  me  to  meet  my  engagements  regularly :  if  she 
cannot  take  me  upon  such  grounds  I  must  look  elsewhere  for  one  who 
can.  Naturally  my  choice  of  pensions  becomes  thus  more  restricted  than 
it  would  be  were  I  not  an  adventuress.  Frequently  I  am  compelled  to 
remain  in,  or  return  to,  a  house  objectionable  to  me.  Sometimes  I  have 
been  obliged  to  dismiss  myself  gracefully  from  charming  quarters  be 
cause  the  presiding  genius  was  as  impecunious  as  myself,  or  more  im 
patient.  Yet  I  never  in  my  life  left  a  house  in  debt,  and  never  failed  to 


MY  EXPERIENCE  AS  AN  ADVENTURESS.  1Q7 

pay  a  debt — in  time !  I  subsist  by  the  scanty  and  precarious  earnings  of 
my  pen.  It  is  a  fairly  facile  and  clever  pen,  and  an  industrious  one.  But 
no  striking  ability  guides  it :  hence  I  have  never  been  able  to  distinguish 
myself  above  the  common  herd  of  penny-a-liners,  who  live  with  diffi 
culty  from  hand  to  mouth,  yet  have  not  even  the  choice  offered  them 
whether  to  live  or  not.  Perhaps  I  might  live  an  easier  life  did  I  take 
it  upon  a  lower  altitude  than  Murray  Hill.  Mais  que  voulez-vous  ?  I 
lived  here  before  I  became  an  adventuress :  all  my  acquaintances  live 
here;  my  married  sisters  live  here,  and  my  celebrated  brothers, — all 
likewise  more  or  less,  in  the  adventuring  line.  Were  I  to  go  lower 
down  I  should  feel  myself  a  failure,  a  broken-down  rather  than  a  suc 
cessful  adventuress,  and  in  my  dull  lexicon  of  elderly  youth  is  no  such 
word  as  fail.  I  am  by  no  means  a  brilliant  adventuress.  I  am  more 
fond  of  dressing-gowns  than  of  ball-dresses,  of  solitude  than  of  society, 
of  books  than  of  men.  I  am  not  trying  to  catch  a  husband,  and  I 
never  cared  to  have  a  fortune.  The  most  golden  of  my  ambitions  is  to 
have  money  enough  to  be  freed  from  this  demnition  grind  of  ink,  to 
have  leisure  to  read  without  a  taunting  demon  at  my  ear,  and  to  be 
always  sure  of  my  car-fare  when  I  am  miles  away  from  Murray  Hill ! 
I  should  not,  of  course,  be  willing  then  to  wear  a  bonnet  crouching 
upon  my  forehead  when  other  bonnets  soar  aloft,  but  neither  am  I  now ; 
and  I  should  then,  as  now,  wear  mismated  gloves  and  boots  most  un 
willingly,  but  doubtless  then,  as  now,  sustained  and  soothed  by  an  un 
faltering  trust  that  nobody  finds  them  out ! 

Sometimes-  I  go  to  a  party  or  ball.  Then  surely  it  would  wring 
any  other  than  an  adventuring  heart  to  know  to  what  straits  I  am  put. 
It  is  no  uncommon  occurrence  for  me  to  wash  out  my  one  lace- trimmed 
and  trained  petticoat  in  the  basin  with  running  water  in  my  dressing- 
closet,  and  to  wear  it  without  ironing,  rough-dried  in  my  tiny  room. 
My  faded  slippers  are  refreshed  by  polish,  my  gloves  chalked  or  inked, 
my  dress  is  the  concrete  fusion  of  a  dozen  abstract  remnants,  my  ruches 
and  ribbons  the  price  of  more  anxious  thought  than  a  review  of  Pos- 
nett's  "Comparative  Literature."  I  often  wonder,  when  I  am  dressed 
and  said  to  present  a  stylish  appearance,  what  the  feminine  verdict 
would  be  upon  me  were  I  to  die  in  that  very  rig.  Would  my  mirac 
ulously-darned  silk  stockings,  my  patch-work  dress,  and  my  rag-bag 
laces  gain  me  the  praise  of  a  suffering,  toiling  saint,  or  would  I  be 
flouted  as  a  dead  fraud? 

Once  upon  a  time  I  was  bidden  to  a  marriage-feast.  I  had  no 
wedding-garments,  only  my  ubiquitous  black  silk,  with  its  protean 
changes  of  lace,  velvet,  and  nun's  veiling.  Besides,  the  invitation 
reached  me  tardily,  and  gave  no  time  for  my  usual  preparatory 
struggles.  I  had  no  dress,  no  gloves,  no  fichu,  no  trained  petticoat,  no 
anything.  I  had  even  no  money.  In  the  morning  my  prospect  of 
going  to  that  marriage-feast  looked  very  like  the  school-master's  defini 
tion  of  nothing, — a  footless  stocking  without  a  leg!  Only  an  adven 
turess  under  my  then  conditions  could  adventure  to  be  a  wedding-guest 
that  night.  I  was  a  wedding-guest,  and  I  wore  an  elegant  white  silk 
trimmed  with  fleecy  tulle.  My  trained  petticoat  was  Chinesely  laun- 
dried,  my  gloves  immaculate ! 


108  MY  EXPERIENCE  AS  AN  ADVENTURESS. 

How  did  I  do  it? 

There  was  the  family  silver,  of  which  a  fifth  came  to  my  share.  I 
wore  that ! 

The  way  I  wore  it  was  to  send  it  by  one  of  my  brothers  to  a  certain 
safe  place.  This  safe  place  is  distinguished  by  a  sign  of  three  golden 
balls, 

When  my  brother  came  home  I  found  myself  in  sudden  funds.  I 
took  a  portion  of  my  funds  to  a  costumer  on  Fifth  Avenue.  There  I 
saw  a  white  silk,  fleecy  with  tulle. 

I  conquered  the  scowling  fate  that  strove  to  prevent  my  presence  at 
the  bridal  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant,  most  famous,  most  wealthy,  and 
most  Murray-Hilly  of  our  contemporary  novelists. 

Yet  let  no  one  doubt  that  the  way  of  the  adventuress  is  hard.  If 
any  one  does,  let  that  one  realize  how  some  of  my  book-reviews — said  to 
be  remarkably  pungent  and  brilliant — are  written.  More  than  once- 
upon-a-time  it  has  happened  me  to  receive  a  package  of  books  when 
not  a  cent,  not  a  scrap  of  paper,  not  even  a  postage-stamp,  relieved  the 
howling  wilderness  of  my  impecuniosity.  Before  those  reviews  could " 
be  written  I  must,  of  course,  have  paper  !  Before  I  could  have  paper 
I  must,  of  course,  have  money ! 

Therefore  nothing  was  left  me  to  do  but  clap  a  portion  of  those  books 
under  my  arm  and  march  off  on  foot  into  the  far-off  region  of  Wide- 
way  where  Grace  Church  points  discrepantly  a  lean  finger  unto  celes 
tial  spheres.  There  is  an  enticing  shop  known  to  all,  where  yesterday's 
novels  and  books  of  travel  and  biography  grace  to-day's  shelves  at 
half  last  evening's  cost.  There  I  sold  my  books,  as  I  had  sold  many 
and  many  a  book  before,  and,  hailing  a  car,  rumbled  triumphantly 
down-town  to  buy  my  wholesale  paper. 

Next  morning  I  awoke  with  a  glad  first  thought  that  there  was 
shot  in  the  locker, — that  is,  writing-paper  and  stamps  on  hand, — then  a 
dampening  second  thought  that  those  very  books  sold  yesterday  must  be 
reviewed  to-day.  If  any  one  doubts  the  hardness  of  the  adventuress's 
lot,  let  that  one  picture  me  as  I  spent  the  most  of  that  day,  lunchless 
and  ready  to  drop  with  fatigue,  devouring  at  the  bookseller's  stall  the 
identical  books  that  only  'twenty-four  hours  before  were  my  own.  In 
treading  my  thorny  adventuress  way  I  have  had  occasion  many  times 
to  smile  bitterly — as  romance  people  do — at  the  frequent  irony  of  cir 
cumstance.  Sometimes  I  have  business  Battery-wards  that  must  be 
attended  to,  although  without  a  cent.  How  often  as  I  have  tramped 
wearily  downward  from  Murray  Hill  through  that  Valley  of  Humilia 
tion,  lower  Wideway,  with  smarting  feet  and  tired  limbs,  some  wretched 
creature  has  approached  me  with  winsome  smile  to  say,  "  Ah,  my  pretty 
lady,  you  have  never  known  what  it  is  to  be  foot-sore  and  weary  !  Will 
you  not  give  a  poor  woman  her  car-fare  home  ?" 

To  my  acquaintances  of  Murray  Hill,  perhaps  the  most  shocking 
of  my  adventures,  did  they  ever  know  of  them,  is  ray  theatre-going. 
I  am  passionately  fond  of  the  drama,  and  naturally  of  a  class  of 
artists  and  plays  caviare  to  the  average  gallery  god.  When  I  am  in 
vited  to  the  theatre,  as  sometimes  happens,  I  sit  at  my  ease,  as  if  I 
never  saw  any  other  part  of  the  house  than  the  court  end  I  then  occupy. 


EXPERIENCE  AS  AN  ADVENTURESS.  1Q9 

But  when  I  pay  my  own  scot,  behold  a  change.  I  take  just  thirty-five 
cents  from  such  meagre  store  as  I  chance  to  have,  and  with  that  go  to 
and  fro  in  the  cars,  to  and  from  the  dusky  back  door  of  the  theatre  in 
which  my  chosen  Star  is  shining.  Sometimes  I  sit  among  ladies  of  quite 
as  much  if  not  more  refinement  than  I  possess,  even  although  they  may 
come  openly  from  studios  on  Fourteenth  Street  or  dress-making  rooms 
on  Ninth,  while  I  skulk  down  from  Murray  Hill.  Sometimes,  again, 
the  real  genius  of  the  place,  the  peanut-eating  gallery  god,  is  my  next 
neighbor ;  but  in  such  theatres  and  at  such  plays  as  I  choose  I  never 
find  the  god  more  offensive  in  his  own  gallery  than  beside  me  in  a 
street-car.  Once  upon  a  time  I  remember  that  I  sat  through  Booth's 
Hamlet  in  a  gallery  seat, — that  night  a  fifty-cent  one  and  therefore  not 
the  cheapest  in  the  house.  Beside  me  sat  a  young  couple,  evidently 
small  shop-people,  decent,  orderly,  and  clean.  On  the  other  side  were  a 
pair  of  lovers,  perhaps  a  nurse-maid  and  her  grocery  swain.  But  just 
behind  me,  at  twenty-five  cents  a  seat,  loomed,  like  swollen  suns  in 
dusky  eclipse,  two  sumptuous,  gorgeous,  pompous  fellow-citizens  of 
African  descent !  Never  till  I  saw  these  opulent  creatures,  gloved, 
cologned,  oiled,  ribboned,  and  starched,  did  I  realize  that  I  had  indeed 
climbed  from  Murray  Hill  to  a  sphere  known  to  proletarian  speech  as 
Nigger  Heaven  !  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  I  found  that  in 
this  case  at  least  the  vulgar  appellation  was  misapplied,  and  the  place 
no  heaven  to  my  looming  neighbors.  Said  Africana  to  Africano,  with 
a  groan, — 

"  I  don't  see  why  this  Hamilton  is  cracked  up  so !  Wish  we'd 
gone  to  see  Dixey  !" 

Not  the  least  peculiar  of  my  adventures  have  been  in  honest  pursuit 
of  honest  employment.  Thus  have  I  come  to  know  by  heart  those  sad 
dull  places  opening  off  from  brilliant  streets,  like  caves  from  sunny 
glades,  where  dingy  thousands  go  to  advertise  their  "  "Wants."  A 
student  of  human  nature  in  its  depression  could  not  do  better  than 
stand  awhile  in  one  of  the  advertising  offices  of  our  great  dailies,  par 
ticularly  on  Saturday  in  the  offices  of  the  journals  which  issue  an  im 
mense  Sunday  edition.  Although  I  was  never  in  a  pawnbroker's  shop 
in  my  life,  these  offices  strongly  remind  me  of  descriptions  of  them. 
Ragged  men  whom  one  would  expect  to  see  sweeping  the  streets  turn 
out  their  fifty  cents — or  dollar — all  in  coppers,  and  one  strongly  sus 
pects  they  have  begged  cent  by  cent  the  money  with  which  to  let  the 
world  know  they  are  willing  to  work.  Hard-looking  women,  sodden 
with  drink,  fumble  the  price  of  their  advertisements  from  unclean 
bosoms ;  even  poverty-stricken  children  of  ten  or  twelve  transact  busi 
ness  with  the  clerks,  whether  for  themselves  or  others  does  not  appear. 
The  general  character  of  the  comers  and  goers  is  of  discouragement 
and  depression,  and  the  serried  ranks  of  their  "  wants"  in  the  news 
paper  explain  why.  The  comfortable  housekeepers,  the  elegant  ma 
trons  and  substantial  gentlemen  who  break  that  grim  monotony  now 
and  then  seem  quite  as  much  out  of  place  as  they  would  under  the 
three  golden  balls,  while  the  showy  young  women  and  dashing  dudes 
who  enter  are  evidently  there  for  joke  or  intrigue, — Comedy  and  Farce 
flouting  the  very  face  of  Tragedy. 


HO  MY  EXPERIENCE  AS  AN  ADVENTURESS. 

At  one  time  I  advertised  with  my  last  dollar  for  a  wife.  I  should 
have  advertised  for  a  husband  too  had  I  dared,  but  previous  adventures 
in  the  advertising  line  had  taught  me  to  beware  of  exposing  myself 
even  incognito  to  the  chivalrous  notice  of  our  much  over-praised 
American  men. 

Once  I  advertised  myself  as  seeking  the  place  of  governess  to 
children  or  companion  to  a  lady.  There  was  no  possible  invitation  to 
intrigue  in  the  form  of  my  advertisement,  although  I  never  dreamed 
of  avoiding  such  appearance,  never  even  remembered  that  a  great  city 
is  full  of  harpies  snuffing  for  corruption  and  scenting  it  everywhere. 
Among  the  perfectly  honorable  and  business-like  answers  to  my  adver 
tisements,  one  or  two  came  that  made  my  very  hair  stand  on  end.  One 
invited  me,  in  covertly  insulting  language,  to  come  and  care  for  his 
children  while  his  wife  was  in  Europe — if  I  was  under  twenty-one ! 
A  second  was  so  appalling  that  I  never  read  it  through,  and  shudder  to 
this  day  that  I  ever  read  so  much.  None  of  my  business-like  answers 
ever  came  to  anything  save  one.  A  gentlemanly  person  called  upon 
me  on  Murray  Hill.  He  was  very  talkative  and  agreeable,  chatted  of 
theatres,  churches,  popular  preachers,  Greenwood  Cemetery,  ocean- 
steamers,  .summer-resorts,  and  new  novels.  There  was  nothing  to 
startle  me  in  the  visit,  although  I  wondered  continually  why  he  did 
not  approach  the  real  object  of  the  interview.  Just  as  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  that  he  probably  was  waiting  for  me  to  introduce  it,  he  looked 
at  his  watch,  suddenly  started  up  as  if  in  consternation,  saying,  "  I  beg 
ten  thousand  pardons,  but  I  had  quite  forgotten  my  train.  You  will 
allow  me  to  write  you  upon  the  subject  of  your  advertisement  ?"  and 
was  gone.  A  few  days  after,  I  received  a  letter  from  him,  far  away  in 
Illinois.  He  wrote  that  he  had  intended  to  have  "  some  fun"  during 
his  late  visit  to  New  York,  and  had  answered  "  heaps"  of  advertise 
ments  in  pursuit  of  that  intention.  "  The  minute  I  saw  you,  however, 
I  saw  that  '  fun'  was  not  in  your  line ;  but  I  found  you  so  brilliant  and 
charming  that  I  could  not  get  away,  although  I  sat  upon  pins  and 
needles  during  every  instant  of  my  call.  I  am  a  widower,  thirty-seven, 

with  two  children,  an  income  of "  and  thus  the  letter  ran  on  till  it 

came  to  the  proposal  of  a  correspondence,  with  a  view  to  marriage ! 

Of  course  I  never  replied  to  this  letter.  I  afterwards  found  out 
from  friends  in  his  own  city  that  the  man  had  given  me  his  real  name 
and  a  truthful  account  of  his  circumstances, — with  one  important  ex 
ception.  Instead  of  being  a  widower,  he  was  the  divorced  husband  of 
two  wives,  and  had  narrowly  missed  State  prison  as  a  bigamist. 

I  advertised  for  a  wife  in  pursuit  of  my  ordinary  career  as  an  ad 
venturess,  and  adventured  my  last  dollar  to  find  material  for  a  ten- 
dollar  article  upon  matrimonial  advertisements.  The  folly,  ignorance, 
duplicity,  and  rank  sin  that  were  revealed  in  the  hosts  of  answers  were 
a  dark  lesson  in  the  science  of  human  nature,  and  made  me  feel  that 
my  nine  dollars  (deducting  one  for  the  advertisement)  were  greasily  and 
smuttily  earned. 

I  have  also  advertised  "Jingles,"  and  to  furnish  clever  rhymes 
upon  every  possible  subject,  births,  deaths,  marriages,  christenings, 
and  to  wrap  up  the  gist  of  an  advertisement  in  dashingly  brilliant 


DESIRE. 

Ingoldsby  form.  I  have  made  some  money  this  way,  but,  upon  the 
whole,  not  enough  to  pay  me  for  the  wrath  I  feel  whenever  a  coarse 
theatrical  photograph  js  sent  me  and  I  am  desired  to  rhyme  upon  a 
flaunting  third-rate  actress  or  an  idiotic  masher,  or  for  the  dread  I 
feel  in  opening  every  letter  lest  it  be  one  to  shame  my  womanhood. 

This  kind  of  an  adventuress  I  have  been  for  years,  and  I  see  no 
end  to  my  heavy  way.  Often  when  the  years  behind  me  seem  so 
ragged  and  mean,  and  the  years  before  hide  their  faces,  I  feel  I  can 
endure  it  no  more,  strive  no  longer  to  seem  what  I  am  not,  to  live 
where  I  have  no  right,  to  impose  upon  all  who  look  at  me.  I  know 
that  half  my  neighbors  on  Murray  Hill  do  exactly  the  same,  all  in 
their  different  ways ;  yet  that  knowledge  smooths  not  a  wrinkle  from 
my  pillow.  And  how  am  I  to  help  myself?  Were  I  to  descend  into 
Washington  Square,  I  might  board  for  one  or  two  dollars  less  a  week ; 
but  what  would  that  mean,  save  perhaps  fresher  ribbons  and  connubial 
boots  less  often  divorced  ?  There  would  be  the  same  struggles,  the 
same  ambitions,  the  same  underlying  discontent ;  for  have  not  Philistia 
and  Bohemia  adventuresses,  as  well  as  Belgravia,  Mayfair,  and  Murray 
Hill  ?  Do  we  escape  our  fate  by  changing  our  lodgings,  or  slip  our 
gyves  by  turning  our  hands  ?  Alas  !  there  is  but  one  way  of  help  for 
me ;  and  I  long  for  it  night  and  day. 

Unto  you,  ye  editors,  I  pray,  pay  me  more  for  my  book-reviews, 
and  do  not  so  often  reject  my  manuscripts. 

Z. 

DESIRE. 

IF  I  should  call  you  beautiful,  my  sweet, 
When  you  look  up  at  me  with  those  proud  eyes 
And  part  the  rosy  petals  of  your  mouth 

To  drop  me  honeyed  greeting, — were  it  wise  ? 
Or  would  you  turn  a  statue  of  surprise  ? 

If  when  that  dainty  jewelled  hand  of  yours 

To  me  for  transient  custody  is  lent, 
I  should  rain  kisses  on  it  rapturously, 

Would  your  own  pulses  leap  in  happy  vent? 

Or  would  you  bid  me  vanish  and  repent  ? 

If  when  you  sing,  and  send  that  liquid  voice 
Pouring  into  my  soul  like  maddening  wine, 

I  should  bend  down  and  clasp  you  to  my  heart, 
Would  those  white  arms  in  joy  about  me  twine? 
Or  would  you  slay  me  with  a  scorn  divine? 

Either  the  music  of  desire  must  fling 

One  passionate  ringing  cadence  on  your  ear, 

To  find  a  deep  sweet  echo  in  your  heart, 

Or,  like  the  stricken  swan  on  woodland  mere, 
Lift  its  wild  notes  in  pain  of  parting  near. 

Ada  Nichols  Man, 


112  WITH  GAUGE  $  SWALLOW. 


WITH  GAUGE  &  SWALLOW* 

VI. — A  BILL  OF  DISOOVEEY. 

haven't  found  it?" 
JL  It  was  Mr.  Swallow  who  asked  the  question  as  he  ap 
proached  a  long  table  which  stood  at  one  end  of  the  main  office.  At 
this  table  sat  three  clerks  with  their  coats  oft'.  Two  of  them  wore 
paper  caps.  At  one  end  stood  a  bright-eyed,  slender  girl,  wearing  a 
brown  duster  with  long  sleeves  fitting  snugly  at  the  wrists,  which  but 
toned  down  in  front  and  was  belted  at  the  waist.  She  held  a  dust- 
brush  which  she  wielded  as  a  sceptre.  Books  and  papers  were  heaped 
before  her,  while  a  pencil  stuck  coquettishly  among  the  dark  clustering 
curls  on  which  was  jauntily  perched  a  paper  cap  of  the  same  pattern  as 
those  worn  by  Mr.  Bronson  and  myself.  Mr.  Burrill  sat  opposite  the 
smiling  mistress  of  ceremonies,  a  picture  of  busy  contentment.  Before 
us  were  files  of  papers  which  we  opened  and  examined  one  by  one. 
The  office-boy  went  back  and  forth  with  his  arms  full  of  these,  while 
a  couple  of  clerks  were  busy  at  the  other  end  of  the  room  taking  them 
from  the  cases,  dusting  the  pigeon-holes,  and  replacing  them. 

Miss  Winters  was  our  new  stenographer,  who  ran  the  type-writer 
and  took  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths  of  three  or  four  able-bodied 
clerks  for  a  stipend  shockingly  insignificant  in  comparison  even  with  the 
moderate  salary  of  an  embryo  lawyer.  The  "  type-writer  girl"  was  a 
new  institution  then.  The  time  had  not  yet  come  when  one  desiring 
such  a  position  found  youth  and  beauty  a  disadvantage,  and  ours  could 
never  have  advertised  among  her  qualifications  "  middle-aged  and 
plain."  The  room  was  full  of  dust,  and  had  been  full  of  laughter  until 
Mr.  Swallow  made  his  appearance. 

"  Haven't  found  it,  I  suppose  ?"  repeated  the  great  advocate  still 
more  irritably  as  he  drew  near  the  table. 

"  Not  yet,"  answered  Burrill,  shaking  his  head  deprecatingly. 

The  room  was  still  enough  now.  The  rustle  of  the  papers  as  we 
slipped  them  rapidly  from  hand  to  hand,  and  the  sharp  tapping  with 
which  Miss  Winters  evened  the  ends  upon  the  table  preparatory  to 
tying  them  up,  were  the  only  sounds  to  be  heard. 

"  You're  not  likely  to,  as  long  as  you  wear  those  fools'  caps,"  the 
Junior  snarled,  with  a  glance  at  our  head-gear.  I  started  to  take  mine 
oft",  but  Bronson,  who  sat  opposite  me,  drew  down  his  brows  and  seemed 
about  to  make  an  angry  reply. 

"  There  is  so  much  dust,"  said  Mr.  Burrill,  who  was  always  the 
washer  when  any  part  of  the  office  developed  a  tendency  to  friction. 
He  turned  away  his  head  and  coughed,  as  if  to  testify  to  the  effect  of 
the  annoying  particles.  Miss  Winters  was  at  that  moment  brushing 
off  some  bundles  the  boy  had  brought. 

*  Copyright,  1888,  by  B.  K.  TOURGEB. 


WITH  GAUGE  £  SWALLOW.  113 

"  I  don't  see  the  use  of  such  an  infernal  dust,  and  won't  have  this 
masquerading,"  said  Mr.  Swallow,  savagely.  "  This  isn't  a  picnic." 

"  You  wouldn't  have  us  handle  these  old  papers  without  dusting 
them,  or  clean  house  without  being  dressed  for  it,  would  you  ?"  asked 
Miss  Winters,  smilingly. 

"  Miss  Winters,"  said  the  Junior,  sternly,  "  you  were  employed  to 
write  my  letters  and  copy  papers,  not  to  get  yourself  up  like  a  washer 
woman  for  the  entertainment  of  the  office." 

"  But  I  had  nothing  to  do,"  protested  the  girl,  dropping  the  brush 
and  snatching  off  her  cap. 

"  I  could  have  found  something  better  for  you  to  do  than  flirting 
with  my  clerks,"  said  Mr.  Swallow.  He  sometimes  forgot  the  firm 
when  angry  and  used  the  singular  number  and  the  possessive  case  with 
considerable  emphasis. 

"  Why,  Mr.  Swallow  !"  The  girl's  great  black  eyes  were  turned  on 
him  with  a  look  of  horror. 

"  It  was  my  fault,  sir,"  interposed  Mr.  Burrill,  apologetically. 
"  You  know  we  were  short-handed,  and — and — a  woman  is  so  deft 
about  such  things,  and  I  thought " 

"  You  are  old  enough  to  have  more  sense,  Burrill,"  snapped  the 
Junior. — "  Miss  Winters,  go  to  your  desk.  When  I  want  you  to  run 
the  office  I'll  let  you  know.  In  the  mean  time  you  had  better  be  look 
ing  out  for  another  place." 

The  girl  pressed  her  handkerchief  to  her  face,  still  holding  the 
crushed  paper  cap  in  one  hand.  Sobbing  and  trembling,  she  rushed 
across  the  office  into  Mr.  Swallow's  room. 

"  If  you  please,  sir "  said  Burrill,  rising  to  his  feet. 

"  Don't  talk  to  me,"  exclaimed  the  irate  lawyer.  "  I  want  that 
paper." 

"  You  are  taking  a  queer  way  to  get  it,"  said  an  unfamiliar  voice 
behind  me. 

I  looked  around,  and  saw  that  a  quiet,  brown-bearded  fellow  who 
had  been  about  the  office  a  good  deal  of  late  had  entered  from  Mr. 
Gauge's  room.  The  senior  partner  stood  near  him,  his  face  wearing  a 
decidedly  troubled  look. 

"Do  you  think  you  are  going  to  run  this  office,  sir?"  asked  the 
Junior,  hotly. 

"  I  think,"  was  the  cool  reply,  "  that  I  have  as  much  interest  as  any 
one  in  the  document  Gauge  &  Swallow  have  lost.  I  have  watched  the 
search  for  the  last  two  days,  and  that  girl  has  been  worth  more  than 
any  two  men  engaged  in  it." 

There  was  a  general  murmur  of  approval. 

"  It  was  her  common  sense  that  suggested  a  method  that  certainly 
promised  success, — if  the  paper  is  still  in  the  office."  He  added  the 
last  with  a  touch  of  doubt  that  was  almost  an  imputation. 

"  Of  course  it's  here,"  asserted  Mr.  Swallow. 

"There  is  just  one  way  of  proving  that,"  said  the  stranger,  with  a 
shrug,  as  he  sauntered  back  into  Mr.  Gauge's  room.  "  You  know  what 
a  failure  to  find  it  before  Monday  means,"  he  added,  as  he  turned  in  the 
door-way. 

VOL.  XLIL— 8 


114  WITH  GAUGE  £  SWALLOW. 

This  was  Friday,  and  this  man  was  the  special  counsel  of  Dole's 
heirs,  whose  claim  for  a  million  or  more  hung  on  the  paper  we  were 
searching  for. 

"  Come,  Swallow,"  said  Mr.  Gauge,  approaching  the  Junior  and 
putting  his  hand  soothingly  upon  his  shoulder.  "  You  are  worried 
almost  to  death,  I  know.  So  are  we  all.  I  don't  wonder  it  annoyed 
you  to  see  the  girl  making  things  so  lively.  I  was  afraid  there'd  be 
trouble  when  you  hired  her.  A  law-office  isn't  the  place  for  a  girl, 
anyhow ;  but  her  bright  ways  haven't  hindered  the  search,  and  her 
faculty  of  putting  things  in  order  has  helped  a  good  deal." 

"  That's  so,"  assented  Burrill. 

"  Wouldn't  have  got  through  one  case,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  her," 
grumbled  the  office-boy,  who  was  hanging  on  the  back  of  an  office- 
chair,  chewing  gum  and  scowling  fiercely. 

"I  know  it,  Gauge,"  said  Mr.  Swallow,  turning  to  his  partner; 
"  but  I'm  so  troubled  about  that  paper.  I  believe  I  am  half  crazy. 
If  it's  not  found  I  can  never  hold  up  my  head  at  the  bar  again." 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Gauge,  absently. 

"  Nor  you  either,"  flashed  back  his  partner.  "  It's  as  likely  to  have 
been  your  fault  as  mine." 

"  Don't  talk  about  whose  fault  it  is,"  answered  Mr.  Gauge,  gravely. 
"  If  it  isn't  found,  neither  of  us  will  ever  sign  a  brief  again." 

The  two  men  stood  looking  into  each  other's  eyes,  seemingly  twenty 
years  older  than  they  had  been  three  days  before.  It  was  a  serious 
moment  for  Gauge  &  Swallow.  One  of  the  most  important  papers  ever 
placed  in  the  possession  of  a  legal  firm  was  lost.  It  was  apparently  only 
an  insignificant  scrap, — a  paper  executed  at  a  mining-camp  in  a  gorge  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  a  dozen  years  before.  It  seemed  hardly  worth 
preserving  then,  being  a  mere  agreement  to  share  what  did  not  exist, — 
a  grub-staking  contract  between  three  men, — but  now  its  possession 
meant  millions.  A  copy  was  not  enough.  One  of  the  parties  was 
dead,  and  the  struggle  was  between  the  survivors.  Practically,  the 
whole  world  had  been  ransacked  for  evidence  in  the  case.  I  said  the 
third  party  was  dead :  he  was  at  least  missing.  The  paper  had  been 
executed  in  triplicate,  each  party  keeping  a  copy.  One  of  the  men  had 
disappeared.  No  trace  of  him  could  be  found  after  a  few  months  sub 
sequent  to  the  date  of  the  contract.  Another  was  the  father  of  the 
claimant ;  while  the  defendants  claimed  title  through  the  third.  There 
was  a  suspicion  that  the  grub-staker  had  put  the  third  partner  out  of 
the  way ;  but  of  this  no  proof  could  be  adduced.  Only  the  original 
contract  could  sustain  the  claim  of  the  parties  Gauge  &  Swallow  repre 
sented.  The  case  was  set  down  for  trial  on  Monday.  It  had  been 
staved  off  for  a  week  on  some  pretext  or  other,  that  an  exhaustive 
search  for  the  missing  document  might  be  made. 

Papers  are  seldom  lost  in  an  office  like  ours.  The  Chinese  rever 
ence  for  a  paper- writing  is  carried  to  its  extreme  limit  by  the  legal  prac 
titioner.  One  of  Gauge  &  Swallow's  clerks  would  no  more  think  of 
destroying  a  scrap  of  paper  with  a  name,  date,  or  anything  else  scrib 
bled  on  it  than  of  cutting  off  his  ears,  unless  he  knew  positively  that 
it  was  of  no  value.  Of  course,  even  with  all  possible  precaution,  valuable 


WITH  GAUGE  £  SWALLOW.  115 

papers  do  sometimes  get  mislaid  ;  and  when  a  paper  is  actually  lost  in 
a  lawyer's  office,  search  for  it  is  wellnigh  hopeless.  In  nine  cases  out 
of  ten  it  has  been  slipped  inside  the  wrong  wrapper,  folded  into  some 
paper  to  which  it  is  riot  at  all  related,  or  hidden  in  some  file  just  as  far 
away  from  where  it  belongs  as  the  limit  of  the  cases  will  allow.  It  is 
possible  it  may  have  been  shut  up  in  a  book,  dropped  through  the  bot 
tom  of  a  drawer,  or  fallen  down  the  back  of  a  case.  Papers,  especially 
valuable  ones,  are  adepts  in  the  art  of  self-seclusion,  and  many  a  lawyer 
attributes,  not  without  reason,  the  bald  spot  upon  his  cranium  or  the 
gray  hairs  that  crown  his  brow  to  the  inexpressible  agony  of  a  long  and 
anxious  search  for  the  hidden  treasures  of  a  client,  who  peacefully  slum 
bers  meanwhile,  unmindful  of  the  perils  that  threaten  his  muniments. 
Modern  mechanical  aids,  such  as  files  and  indexes,  do  very  much  to 
reduce  the  risk  of  loss,  though  when  a  mistake  is  made  with  one  of 
them  it  seems  even  more  hopeless  to  attempt  its  discovery.  A  man 
who  seeks  for  a  misplaced  letter  in  an  indexed  file  is  almost  certain  to 
anathematize  the  ingenuity  that  devised  it. 

In  such  cases  the  only  thing  to  be  done,  if  the  paper  is  of  value 
enough  to  justify  it,  is  to  lock  the  doors,  like  a  merchant  taking  account 
of  stock,  and  turn  everything  within  the  four  walls  inside  out  until  the 
lost  document  is  found.  Such  occasions  are  very  much  what  house- 
cleaning  is  to  the  tidy  home-keeper,  except  that  dust  is  even  more  uni 
versal  and  ill-temper  more  abundant. 

Such  a  time  we  were  having  at  Gauge  &  Swallow's.  Our  em 
ployers,  though  very  good  men,  were  human,  and  consequently  en 
dowed  with  nerves.  This  was  especially  true  of  Mr.  Swallow.  Usu 
ally  the  best-natured  of  men,  he  was  on  such  occasions  an  unmitigated 
terror.  Seemingly  a  very  careless  man,  he  rarely  lost  a  paper.  His 
desk  might  be  covered  a  foot  deep  with  unassorted  and  unrelated  man 
uscripts,  but  somehow  he  could  always  find  what  he  wanted.  He  pos 
sessed  a  singular  kind  of  memory, — wonderfully  strong  in  some  di 
rections  and  equally  deficient  in  others.  He  never  quoted,  could  not 
recite  a  solitary  stanza  of  poetry,  and  was  accustomed  to  say  that  he 
could  not  remember  the  Lord's  Prayer, — an  assertion  one  was  inclined 
at  times  to  credit.  On  the  other  hand,  he  knew  every  paper  he  had 
ever  handled,  and  could  pick  it  out  from  a  heap  of  similarly- folded 
ones  without  reading  the  endorsement,  recalling  at  once  the  handwriting, 
blots,  scratches,  and  other  distinguishing  marks  upon  it. 

Mr.  Gauge,  however,  though  the  most  orderly  man  in  the  world, 
knew  a  paper  only  by  its  contents,  had  a  poor  memory  for  faces,  never 
knew  where  he  last  saw  a  thing  or  when  or  for  what  purpose  he  had 
last  used  it.  He  put  things  in  their  places, — or  thought  he  did, — and 
the  consequence  was  that  when  he  failed  to  do  so  he  could  give  no  clue 
to  their  location.  It  was  almost  always  his  papers  that  were  lost,  but, 
as  he  always  believed,  through  the  carelessness  of  others, — usually  his 
partner,  whom  he  never  failed  to  accuse  of  having  lost  them  among  the 
pile  of  rubbish  on  his  desk.  At  such  times  the  mutual  recriminations 
between  the  partners  would  have  been  enjoyable  enough  to  the  clerks 
had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  they  were  in  constant  fear  they  might 
tire  of  accusing  each  other  and  both  turn  on  their  subordinates. 


WITH  GAUGE  $  SWALLOW. 

Miss  Winters  had  been  in  the  office  but  a  few  months.  Mr.  Gauge 
had  opposed  her  employment:  women  were  just  beginning  to  hold  such 
positions  then,  and  were  not  looked  on  with  favor.  Her  skill  and  ac 
curacy,  as  well  as  her  beauty  and  lady-like  demeanor,  had  appealed  to 
Mr.  Swallow  so  strongly,  however,  that  he  had  overborne  his  partner's 
objection.  Until  the  loss  of  this  paper  the  clerks  in  the  office  had  seen 
very  little  of  her.  The  partners  had  kept  her  busy.  Up  to  this  time 
they  had  adhered  to  the  old  fashion  of  writing  many  important  letters 
themselves.  With  her  advent  all  this  was  changed.  They  suddenly 
found  the  type-writer  exactly  the  thing  for  their  correspondence,  though 
it  was  as  yet  only  occasionally  employed  in  the  more  formal  business 
of  the  office.  Whenever  the  door  of  Mr.  Swallow's  room  was  open, 
we  either  heard  the  drone  of  dictation  or  the  click  of  the  machine  ;  and 
whenever  we  had  occasion  to  go  there — and  we  went  there  as  often 
as  we  could  devise  excuse  for  doing  so — we  were  sure  to  see  her  sitting 
opposite  one  of  the  partners,  with  her  book  upon  her  lap,  with  her 
sharp-pointed  pencil  jotting  down  their  words  in  queer  hieroglyphs,  or 
else  we  heard  the  click  of  the  keys  from  behind  the  screen  by  which 
her  desk  was  shielded  from  observation. 

Everybody  was  irritated  by  Mr.  Swallow's  attack  on  the  young  lady. 
Bronson  always  resented  any  reflection  on  what  was  done  in  the  office, 
for  all  the  work  of  which  he  held  himself  responsible.  As  soon  as  he 
had  finished  the  file  on  which  he  was  engaged,  therefore,  he  shoved 
back  his  chair  and  left  the  room.  I  knew  from  his  look  there  was 
going  to  be  trouble.  When  he  returned,  he  had  washed,  donned  his 
coat,  and  had  his  hat  in  his  hand. 

"  Going  out,  Bronson  ?"  asked  Mr.  Swallow,  as  the  chief  clerk 
passed  him  on  his  way  to  the  door. 

"  Yes,  sir,  and  shall  not  return  until  morning,"  was  the  positive 
answer. 

"  You  know  how  anxious  we  are  about  this  paper,"  suggested  Mr. 
Swallow,  in  a  tone  that  showed  a  desire  to  avoid  difference. 

"  I  have  already  been  up  nearly  all  of  two  nights,"  retorted  Bron 
son,  "  and,  as  you  do  not  seem  satisfied  with  what  has  been  done,  I  am 
going  home  to  get  a  little  sleep.  You  had  better  get  a  '  mind-reader' 
or  something  of  that  sort  to  find  the  paper  for  you.  We  can't  see 
through  the  files, — can  only  use  common  sense  and  system, — and  that 
takes  time.  You  had  better  stop  us  and  put  a  mesmerist  on  the  job." 

This  was  a  hit  at  Mr.  Swallow,  who  was  always  talking  about  mes 
merism  and  the  relations  of  mind  to  matter  as  if  he  really  thought  man 
kind  had  some  sort  of  sixth  sense  which  acted  without  relation  to  time 
or  space  and  was  unaffected  by  sensible  obstacles.  I  do  not  suppose  he 
believed  a  word  of  what  he  said,  but  he  was  fond  of  talking  about  such 
things  in  the  hours  of  pleasant  relaxation  following  a  hard-won  triumph 
in  court,  and  was  accustomed  to  attribute  much  of  his  success  to  a  sort 
of  instinctive  power  to  read  the  mind  of  an  adversary  or  a  witness. 
Indeed,  there  were  cases  in  which  it  seemed  as  if  this  faculty  of  his 
actually  bordered  on  the  occult.  Bronson's  parting  shot  woke  a  smile 
on  the  dolorous  visage  of  Mr.  Gauge,  who  could  not  resist  an  opportu 
nity  to  touch  his  partner's  well-known  weakness. 


WITH  GAUGE  $  SWALLOW.  117 

"  That's  an  idea,  now,"  he  said,  briskly,  as  Bronson  clattered  down 
the  stairs.  "  Why  not  employ  a  mesmerist  or  the  seventh  son  of  a 
seventh  son  to  tell  us  where  it  is  ?" 

"  It  wouldn't  do,"  said  Mr.  Swallow,  quickly.  "  You  see,  he 
would  have  to  trace  it  by  the  impression  on  your  mind ;  and  a  paper 
never  leaves  impression  enough  on  your  memory  for  anybody  to  find  a 
trace  of  it  an  hour  afterwards, — let  alone  a  year." 

Both  laughed,— each  at  his  own  jest,  no  doubt.  No  matter ;  the 
laughter  put  us  all  once  more  at  ease. 

"I  don't  know  as  I  blame  Bronson  for  being  mad,"  said  Mr. 
Swallow,  "but  this  thing  must  be  pushed.  I'll  tell  you  what,  I'll 
apologize  to  Miss  Winters,  and  then  we'll  all  go  at  it  and  examine 
every  scrap  of  paper  in  the  office.  I'll  work  to-night ;  you  can  take 
a  turn  to-morrow  night ;  we'll  have  lunches  sent  in,  and  offer  a  hun 
dred  dollars  to  the  one  who  finds  the  paper,  and  five  hundred  more  to 
the  office  when  it  is  found.  How  will  that  do,  gentlemen  ?" 

"  Me  too  ?"  asked  Tommy. 

"  Yes,  you  too,  you  little  rascal,  if  you  will  give  that  chair  a  rest 
and  go  to  work." 

Some  of  the  other  clerks  had  come  in,  and  the  proposal  was  greeted 
with  noisy  approval  as  they  took  part  again  in  the  search. 

"  Mr.  Swallow." 

Everybody  started.  There,  just  behind  the  partners,  was  Miss 
Winters.  She  had  removed  the  duster  she  had  worn  while  engaged  in 
the  search,  and  her  mourning  gown,  with  its  bit  of  lace  at  the  throat, 
gave  her  pale  face  a  very  pathetic  look.  She  had  lost  her  mother  since 
she  had  been  in  the  office,  and  we  all  felt  a  good  deal  of  sympathy  for 
her.  Besides,  I  may  as  well  confess  that  we  were  very  proud  of  our 
"  pretty  shop-mate,"  as  we  called  her.  Thus  far  Tom  was  the  only  one 
who  could  boast  of  any  show  of  partiality  on  her  part.  She  had  man 
aged  to  transform  the  lad  into  an  endurable  presence,  and  in  return  he 
had  become  her  especial  champion. 

"  Mr.  Swallow,"  she  repeated,  eagerly.  Then,  seeing  we  were  all 
looking  at  her,  she  faltered  and  cast  down  her  eyes. 

"Miss  Winters,"  said  the  Junior,  turning  towards  her  with  that 
winning  courtesy  which  made  every  one  forget  that  he  had  any  less 
pleasing  qualities,  "  I  beg  your  pardon  for  my  rudeness.  My  anxiety 
has  made  me  little  less  than  a  brute,  or  I  should  have  seen  that  instead 
of  blame  you  deserved  commendation." 

"  I  was  anxious  too,"  she  said, — "  almost  as  anxious  as  you  and  Mr. 
Gauge.  You  have  been  very  kind  to  me,  and  I  wanted  to  show  that  I 
was  worthy  of  consideration.  Will  you  let  me  try  again?" 

"  I  was  just  coming  to  request  you  to  resume  your  place." 

Then  we  all  cheered,  and  Tommy  executed  a  hand-spring  and  gave 
a  whistle  which  made  us  jump  as  if  a  policeman  had  sprung  his  rattle 
among  us. 

"  Oh,  I  didn't  mean  that,"  the  little  lady  said,  smiling  and  blushing 
with  pleasure. 

"  Not  that  ?  Have  you  another  idea  ?"  asked  Mr.  Gauge,  anxious 
to  promote  the  return  of  good  feeling. 


118  WITH  GAUGE  $  SWALLOW. 

"  Yes, — that  is,"  said  Miss  Winters,  hesitantly,  "  I  used  to — to  find 
things." 

"Find  things?" 

"  Yes,  sir, — when  I  was  a  child,  you  know.  What  Mr.  Bronson 
said  made  me  think  of  it.  The  other  children  used  to  hide  things,  and 
I  would  hold  their  hands  and  make  them  tell  me  what  they  had  hidden, 
and  presently  I  would  tell  them  where  it  was.  Sometimes  the  one  I 
talked  to  did  not  know  where  it  was,  and  sometimes  it  would  be  hidden 
where  I  had  never  been.  When  I  grew  older  my  mother  made  me 
promise  not  to  do  this.  I  don't  know  as  I  could  now ;  but,  if  you 

would  like,  I  will  try.  That  is,  I  would  if "  She  paused  in 

evident  embarrassment. 

"  If  what  ?"  asked  Mr.  Gauge,  sharply.  "  You  heard  the  offer  Mr. 
Swallow  made  for  the  recovery  of  this  paper,  I  suppose  ?" 

"  Oh,  it  isn't  that,"  she  exclaimed,  quickly.  "  I  don't  want  the 
money, — only  what  I  earn,"  she  added,  proudly ;  "  but  sometimes,  you 
know " 

"  Well  ?"  said  Mr.  Gauge,  suspiciously. 

"  Sometimes,  you  see,"  she  said,  stammering  painfully,  "  when  I  do 
that  I — I  become  unconscious.  If  there  were  some — some  other  lady 
here,  I — I  Avould  be  glad — to  try." 

"  What  do  you  think  ?"  asked  the  Senior,  turning  to  Mr.  Swallow. 

"  I  don't  know,"  answered  Mr.  Swallow.  "  Couldn't  do  any 
harm." 

"  Unless  it  should  get  out,"  said  Mr.  Gauge,  dubiously. 

"  Well,  yes ;  we'd  get  laughed  at  then." 

"  If  we  don't  find  the  paper  it  doesn't  matter  how  much  we  are 
laughed  at." 

"  That's  so.     But  the  lady  :  whom  can  we  get  ?" 

"  Mrs.  Gauge  is  to  call  for  me  with  the  carriage  at  four.  It  must 
be  about  that  time  now,"  consulting  his  watch. — "  Mr.  Fountain,  will 
you  go  down  and  ask  her  to  come  up  ?" 

I  reached  the  sidewalk  just  in  time  to  escort  up  the  stairs  the  gra 
cious  wife  of  the  senior  partner,  and,  taking  advantage  of  my  good 
fortune,  I  waited  to  see  what  followed. 

The  situation  was  hastily  explained  to  the  lady.  She  looked  sharply 
at  the  flushed  and  trembling  girl  who  sat  near  her,  and  said,  laying  a 
hand  familiarly  on  her  wrist, — 

"  Do  you  think  you  could  find  it,  my  dear  ?" 

"  I  don't  know.     I  can  try,"  was  the  timid  answer. 

"  Why  did  your  mother  object  to  your  doing  such  things  ?" 

"  She  thought  it  was  not  good  for  me.  She  said  it  shortened  my 
father's  life." 

"How  do  you  do  it?" 

"I  don't  know." 

"  Is  there  anything  supernatural  about  it  ? — like  spiritualism,  I 
mean  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  that.  You  see,  I  just  think  and 
think,  until  it  seems  as  if  I  would  die ;  and  then,  perhaps  all  at  once, 
I  am  in  a  large  place  away  from  everybody  and  myself  too, — only 


WITH  GAUGE  $  SWALLOW.  H9 

lean  see — oh,  everywhere — just  everywhere!  Sometimes  I  can  see 
what  I  want  to  find,  but  cannot  tell  where  it  is.  Then  again  I  can  see 
nothing  distinctly." 

"  And  after  it  is  over  ?" 

"  I  am  very  tired, — very  tired,"  said  the  girl,  simply. 

"  You  do  not  think  it  would  hurt  you  ?" 

"  Oh,  I  guess  not,"  with  a  pathetic  smile. 

"Are  you  sure?"  asked  the  strange  gentleman,  anxiously. 

"  I  am  willing  to  try,"  she  answered,  without  looking  up. 

Well,  the  result  was  that  it  was  decided  to  try  the  experiment. 
The  young  lady  was  placed  in  a  chair,  tipped  backward,  with  a  cushion 
beneath  her  head.  She  held  Mrs.  Gauge's  hand, — "just  so  I  may  feel 
safe,  you  know,"  she  said.  Mr.  Gauge  and  Mr.  Swallow  sat  in  front 
of  her. 

"  Now  talk  about  it,"  she  said.  "  Tell  me  just  how  it  looked,  what 
was  in  it,  and  all  you  know  about  it." 

She  closed  her  eyes,  and  the  partners  talked  about  the  lost  paper. 
Mr.  Swallow  described  its  appearance,  Mr.  Gauge  recited  its  contents, 
and  they  helped  each  other  out  with  the  story  of  its  execution  as  they 
had  heard  it  from  their  clients  and  witnesses.  For  a  while  she  sat 
silent,  holding  the  hand  of  Mrs.  Gauge,  who  watched  her  with  motherly 
solicitude.  The  blue  veins  stood  out  upon  her  temples,  and  her  eyes 
seemed  to  shrink  back  into  great  dark  caverns.  Then  her  lips  began 
to  twitch,  her  hands  to  tremble,  and  the  one  Mrs.  Gauge  held  to  clasp 
convulsively.  Her  eyelids  twitched  curiously,  too, — from  the  middle 
outward,  it  seemed.  She  had  asked  us  all  to  think  of  the  lost  paper 
and  be  certain  to  speak  of  nothing  else.  I  knew  nothing  about  the 
paper,  and,  getting  tired  of  thinking  of  nothing,  I  looked  at  her  and 
thought  of  her.  Instinctively  the  partners  stopped  talking  as  they 
noted  these  things.  We  all  watched  the  delicate  creature  as  she  sank 
into  the  trance-state  with  compassion,  feeling  that  she  was  giving  some 
thing  of  her  very  life  to  testify  her  gratitude  and  devotion  to  her  em 
ployers. 

Presently  she  began  to  moan,  turning  her  head  one  way  and  the 
other.  Her  brow  was  knotted  into  a  frown  of  unmistakable  suffer 
ing.  After  a  while  she  talked  indistinctly  and  brokenly,  shivering 
from  head  to  foot : 

"  How  dark  it  is  ! — the  mountains  roar.  Three  men  sit  around  a 
box  :  one  of  them  writes, — two — no,  three  papers.  One  is  burned  at 
the  corner ;  a  drop  of  grease  has  fallen  on  one.  It  is  a  grub-stake 
agreement.  The  grub-staker  takes  the  one  with  the  drop  of  tallow  on 
it ;  the  old  man,  the  one  with  the  burned  corner ;  the  young  man,  the 
other." 

There  was  a  moment  of  moaning  and  incoherence.  Then  she  went 
on : 

"  It  is  day, — in  a  strange  city, — very  bright.  There  are  snowy 
mountains  a  little  way  off.  The  streets  are  crowded  with  vehicles,  but 
they  make  no  noise.  The  three  men  again.  The  old  man  and  the 
young  man  are  ragged  and  lean.  They  show  the  other  lumps  of  rock 
which  they  take  out  of  a  bag.  They  are  eager, — excited.  The  fat  man 


120  WITH  GAUGE  $  SWALLOW. 

shakes  his  head.  They  ask  for  money.  He  still  shakes  his  head. 
Then  they  quarrel.  They  go  out  and  leave  the  ores.  The  fat  man 
hides  them.  He  takes  out  the  paper  and  looks  at  it,  then  burns  it 
up." 

Here  came  another  pause.     We  were  all  intensely  excited. 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  of  that  before  ?"  whispers  Mr.  Swallow. 

The  stranger  shakes  his  head. 

The  girl  continued.  Her  muscles  were  tensely  strung,  and  great 
sweat-drops  stood  upon  her  forehead.  She  evidently  suffered  greatly. 

"  Poor  girl  !"  said  Mrs.  Gauge,  compassionately. 

"  The  old  man  is  in  the  city.  He  has  a  long  white  beard.  He  is 
rich,  and  lives  in  a  fine  house.  He  comes  here  to  see  Mr.  Gauge, — 
always  Mr.  Gauge.  He  has  a  new  name,  and  a  box, — a  round  box." 

Mr.  Gauge  started  to  his  feet.  "  Murrow !"  whispered  Mr.  Swallow, 
excitedly.  Mr.  Gauge  nodded. 

"  He  has  a  key,  too, — a  curious  key.     He  gives  it  to  Mr.  Gauge." 

The  girl  lay  still  for  a  moment,  then,  springing  up,  her  face  dis 
torted  with  excitement,  she  shrieked  out,  pointing  her  finger  straight  at 
Mr.  Gauge,  but  without  opening  her  eyes, — 

"  The  key  ! — the  key  !  Give  me  the  key !  Alive  or  dead ! — alive 
or  dead  ! — alive  or  dead  !" 

Then  she  sank  back  exhausted.  Mr.  Gauge  stepped  quickly  to  his 
desk  on  tiptoe  and  returned  with  a  queer  round  key  having  four  prongs. 
"  Nobody  knew  of  it,"  he  whispered. 

I  think  we  all  turned  pale.  I  felt  as  if  the  blood  were  trickling 
from  my  veins.  I  should  have  fainted  if  some  one  had  not  spoken. 

"  It's  in  the  box,"  the  girl  went  on,  "  the  round  box.  One — three 
— I  can't  see  the  other  figure.  It's  in  the  box, — the  paper  with  the 
burnt  corner." 

Mr.  Gauge  stepped  to  the  vault  and  returned  with  a  round  box 
covered  with  leather.  It  looked  like  a  hat-box.  On  the  end  were 
two  initials,  E.  M.,  and  the  figures  1  and  3.  There  had  been  another, 
but  it  had  been  erased.  It  seemed  to  relieve  the  girl  to  have  the  box 
brought  near. 

"  It's  here,"  she  said,  "  in  a  big  envelope, — sealed  up, — Mr.  Gauge's 
— no,  Mr.  Swallow's  seal." 

Mr.  Gauge  opened  the  box.  A  sealed  envelope  lay  on  the  top.  He 
started. 

"  I  had  forgotten,"  he  whispered  to  Mr.  Swallow :  "  I  borrowed 
your  seal  one  day  for  Murrow ;  could  not  find  mine." 

"  It's  there, — it's  there,"  said  the  girl,  with  a  sigh  of  contentment. 

"  Open  it,"  whispered  Mr.  Swallow. 

The  Senior  broke  the  seal  and  ran  over  the  contents  of  the  envelope. 
A  small  paper,  worn  and  creased,  with  a  corner  blackened  by  fire,  fell 
out.  The  stranger  seized  it.  The  girl  drew  a  long  breath  and  seemed 
to  sink  into  peaceful  slumber. 

"  This  is  Newcombe's,"  said  the  stranger.  "  Where  is  the  other  ? 
If  we  can  only  get  the  other !  Where  is  Dole's  ?  Ask  her,  quick  !" 

"  Dole's  ?  Dole's  ?"  repeated  the  tranced  girl,  wearily.  "  I  don't 
see  it.  I  can't  find  it." 


WITH  GAUGE  $  SWALLOW.  121 

"  You  must — try — we  must  have  it !"  exclaimed  the  stranger,  harshly. 
I  hated  him  for  his  cruelty. 

"  Dole's — Dole's I  am  in  a  large  room.  There  are  books — 

books — everywhere.  It  is  here,  but  I  cannot  see  it.  I  am  tired, — oh, 
so  tired !" 

"  Poor  child  !"  said  Mrs.  Gauge  :  "  don't  worry  her  any  more." 

Miss  Winters  sank  back,  breathing  painfully.  Mr.  Gauge  and  Mr. 
Swallow  hastily  examined  the  papers  found  in  the  box. 

"  He  hasn't  been  in  the  office  for  a  year,"  I  heard  the  former  say. 
"  Said  he  was  going  away  and  might  not  return,  but  would  give  me  a 
sign  when  I  should  open  it, — said  I  need  not  be  afraid ;  he  would  let 
me  know,  'dead  or  alive.'  Those  were  his  very  words.  He  was  a 
great  spiritualist,  you  know.  Makes  one's  flesh  crawl,  don't  it  ?"  he 
said,  with  a  shiver. 

"  Hadn't  you  better  wake  her  ?"  asked  the  stranger,  anxiously. 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Swallow.  "  She  must  be  waked.  It 
is  very  dangerous  to  go  from  a  trance-state  into  sleep." 

I  brought  a  glass  of  water.  Mrs.  Gauge  bathed  her  face.  Then  I 
was  sent  after  spirits.  A  little  was  poured  into  her  mouth.  Every 
muscle  was  relaxed  and  limp.  We  chafed  her  hands,  rubbed  her 
temples,  pinched  her  fingers.  Mrs.  Gauge  had  loosened  her  clothing, 
throwing  her  own  shawl  over  the  girl's  shoulders. 

Little  by  little  she  recovered  consciousness,  but  she  was  still  weak 
and  unnerved.  She  laughed  and  wept  at  once. 

"  Oh,  dear  !  I  am  so  tired  !"  she  moaned.  "  Why  didn't  you  let 
me  sleep  ?  Isn't  it  time  to  go  home  ?" 

"  Poor  child  !"  said  the  tender-hearted  matron.  "  You  are  not  going 
home  to-night :  you  are  going  with  me.  You  must  stay  with  me  until 
Monday  at  least.  They  won't  want  you  here,  now  they  have  found  the 
paper." 

"  What  is  your  full  name,  Miss  Winters  ?"  asked  the^Senior,  looking 
up  from  the  papers  he  held. 

"  Marion  Edna,"  she  answered,  with  a  smile. 

"And  your  father's?" 

"  Henry  Winters." 

"  Tell  them  to  put  things  up,  Mr.  Fountain ;  they  need  look  no 
farther.  If  I  am  not  much  mistaken,  Miss  Winters,  you  have  dreamed 
to  some  purpose  for  yourself  as  well  as  others.  Take  her  home,  my 
dear.  We  must  look  over  these  papers  ;  but  I  will  follow  in  an  hour." 

The  stranger  escorted  the  ladies  down-stairs :  Mr.  Burrill  was  sent 
for,  and  there  was  a  long  consultation  in  Mr.  Swallow's  room.  When 
I  went  to  see  him  to  his  car  that  night,  as  I  always  did,  though  it  was 
a  little  out  of  my  way,  he  said, — 

"  Queer  thing  that  happened  at  the  office  to-day,  wasn't  it  ?  I'm 
sorry  about  it :  don't  like  such  things.  The  girl's  well  enough, — ap 
pears  like  a  lady, — but  I  don't  like  trances,  or  spirits,  or  anything  of 
the  kind.  They  aren't  regular ;  there's  no  law  for  'em ;  and  I,  for  one, 
don't  want  any  of  'em  around.  They  found  the  paper,  but  it  isn't  the 
one  that  was  lost,  and  nothing  on  it  to  show  that  it's  a  duplicate  origi 
nal  :  that's  always  been  understood,  though ;  all  the  witnesses  say  that." 


122  WITH  GAUGE  $  SWALLOW. 

"  Who  was  this  Murrow, — the  man  who  owned  the  box  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  him/'  said  the  old  man,  testily, — 
"  never  liked  his  looks,  and  never  cultivated  his  acquaintance.  He  was 
a  tall,  weakly- looking  man,  with  a  long  white  beard ;  lived  up-town, 
and  used  to  speculate  on  '  tips'  he  claimed  the  spirits  gave  him.  He 
seemed  to  be  very  successful,  though,  spirits  or  no  spirits,  and  was 
reported  to  have  made  no  end  of  money.  He  went  off  a  year  or  more 
ago,  to  hunt  up  his  son,  he  said,  with  whom  it  seems  there  had  been 
some  disagreement  in  his  less  prosperous  days.  He  sold  his  house  and 
settled  everything  up  as  if  he  never  expected  to  come  back.  So  far  as 
I  can  see,  he  seems  to  have  just  crawled  into  that  round  box  of  his  and 
disappeared.  He  lived  just  back  of  Hazzard's  place, — the  sewing- 
machine  man,  you  know,  on  Fifth  Avenue, — bought  the  house  of  him, 
and,  it  seems,  sold  it  back  to  him  when  he  went  away.  A  queer  thing 
about  it  is  that  Hazzard  is  Swallow's  client  and  Murrow  Gauge's ;  so 
that  Swallow  witnessed  one  deed  and  Gauge  the  other.  Each  one's 
client  seemed  to  have  a  sort  of  aversion  to  the  man  he  did  not  employ. 
Hazzard  told  Swallow  he  didn't  like  a  man  who  stood  so  straight  he 
leaned  backward;  and  Murrow  told  Gauge  he  didn't  want  an  attorney 
who  had  to  have  a  partner  to  help  him  keep  his  clients'  secrets.  The 
partners  laughed  at  each  other  over  these  left-handed  compliments,  but 
are  both  of  them  so  faithful  to  their  clients  that  they  have  never  said  a 
word  to  each  other  about  the  business  they  did  for  them  until  to-day. 
I  doubt  if  they  would  ever  have  done  so  if  it  had  not  been  that  Mur 
row  was  mixed  up  in  this  matter  and  Mr.  Gauge  believed  him  dead. 
They  don't  often  have  individual  clients,  and  it  is  a  good  thing  they  do 
not.  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Fountain,  if  lawyers  are  in  partnership  they 
ought  to  be  like  husband  and  wife, — no  secrets  between  them." 

The  case  of  Dole's  Heirs  vs.  The  Ruby  Mining  Co.  was  called  for 
trial  on  Monday  morning,  but,  after  a  brief  consultation  between  the 
counsel,  was  continued  by  consent,  After  a  good  deal  of  negotiation, 
some  adjustment  was  arrived  at,  by  which  it  was  agreed  that  the  plain 
tiff's  proofs  should  be  cancelled  and  judgment  entered  for  the  defend 
ants.  I  never  knew  exactly  what  it  was. 

There  was  very  little  said  about  the  matter  in  the  office.  Miss 
Winters  did  not  return  to  work,  notwithstanding  the  signal  service  she 
had  rendered  the  firm.  A  while  afterwards  I  asked  Mr.  Burrill  how 
the  case  came  out. 

"  I  wouldn't  talk  about  the  matter  if  I  were  you,  Mr.  Fountain," 
he  answered,  testily.  "  There  was  something  crooked  about  the  case ; 
and  our  folks  feel  very  sore  over  it.  They  know  somebody  has  played 
them  like  a  flute ;  and  the  worst  of  it  is,  they  don't  exactly  know  who 
did  it.  There  doesn't  seem  to  have  been  any  wrong  done,  but  the  fair 
thing  was  brought  about  in  such  a  questionable  way  that  they  don't  like 
to  hear  about  it. 

"  There  wasn't  any  doubt  about  the  contract :  that  was  all  straight. 
Snead,  the  grub-staker,  thinking  his  partners  had  disappeared,  changed 
the  name  of  the  mine,  which  was  in  a  new  district,  made  some  develop 
ments,  and  sold  it  to  the  company,  making  millions  out  of  it  in  the  end. 
He  stood  behind  the  company,  of  course,  in  the  suit.  He  knew  his 


WITH  GAUGE  #  SWALLOW.  123 

only  chance  was  to  get  hold  of  the  contract  or  else  to  buy  up  Dole's 
heirs.  Spite  of  all  he  could  do,  he  couldn't  find  Dole's  heirs,  however, 
— which  is  not  strange,  for  Dole  wasn't  Dole  at  all.  So  he  stole  the 
contract,  or  had  it  stolen,  from  our  office,  and  left  it  under  seal  with 
his  counsel." 

"  How  did  he  get  it  ?" 

"  Don't  ask  me.  I  think  Gauge  &  Swallow  would  give  a  snug  bit 
to  know  themselves.  The  girl — Miss  Winters,  I  mean — went  into  a 
trance  after  she  left  here,  and  described  the  place  where  it  was  hidden  so 
minutely  that  Mr.  Swallow  recognized  a  desk  in  the  office  of  Ewell  & 
Stafford,  the  defendants'  attorneys,  and  went  there  the  next  day  with  a 
search-warrant  and  an  officer  and  demanded  the  paper  of  the  man  who 
sat  at  the  desk.  It  was  a  bold  thing  to  do  on  such  evidence,  but  Mr. 
Swallow  hadn't  any  more  doubt But  he  won't  ever  do  it  again. 

"  Well,  of  course,  Ewell  &  Stafford  didn't  want  a  row.  So  they 
told  the  Junior  to  search  the  desk,  if  he  wanted  to  take  the  responsi 
bility.  It  wasn't  any  use  to  try  and  bluff  Mr.  Swallow.  He'd  have 
bet  his  immortal  soul  on  what  that  trance-medium  said.  And,  sure 
enough,  the  first  thing  he  dropped  on  was  the  envelope  containing  the 
copy  of  the  contract,  with  his  own  endorsement  on  it.  That  settled  the 
case,  of  course.  Ewell  &  Stafford  couldn't  afford  to  have  the  matter 
get  out,  and  would  have  given  away  the  thief  sooner  than  have  the 
charge  of  stealing  the  testimony  made  against  them.  After  that  it  was 
plain  sailing  so  far  as  the  settlement  with  the  company  was  concerned. 
Our  folks  had  it  all  their  own  way,  and  took  what  they  thought  a  fail- 
share  of  the  profits  of  the  mine.  It  was  when  it  came  to  paying  over 
the  fund  that  the  trouble  came.  Who  do  you  suppose  was  entitled  to 
all  that  money  ?" 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know." 

"  I  should  think  not,  and  would  never  guess,  either.  Nobody  in  the 
world  but  that  little,  smooth,  innocent  trance-seer  whom  all  you  boys 
were  in  love  with." 

"  What !  Miss  Winters  ?" 

"  I  don't  wonder  that  you  are  surprised.  Gauge  &  Swallow  aren't 
often  taken  in,  but  they  were  done  for  that  time.  It's  always  the  way  : 
when  a  lawyer  is  gulled  he  never  nibbles  at  the  bait,  but  opens  his 
mouth  and  takes  it  all  in  at  a  gulp,  like  a  big  pike  going  for  a  minnow. 
And  who  do  you  suppose  it  was  put  up  the  job  on  them?" 

I  shook  my  head. 

"  Why,  Mr.  Gauge's  grave,  pious  old  spiritualistic  client  Murrow 
was  nobody  else  than  Newcombe,  while  Dole  was  none  other  than 
Henry  Winters,  who,  according  to  Murrow's  story,  was  his  son  under 
another  alias  or  in  some  previous  state  of  existence, — heaven  knows 
which." 

"  Why  so  many  aliases  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Oh,  I  can't  tell,"  snarled  the  old  man,  "  nor  why  they  were  mas 
querading  as  prospectors  in  the  Rockies,  nor  why  they  got  Snead  to 
grub-stake  them.  Murrow  must  have  had  plenty  of  money.  Of  course 
they  let  Snead  sell  the  mine  because  they  thought  it  cheaper  to  work 
the  company  than  the  mine ;  but  why  they  should  take  such  a  round- 


124  ULTIMATE  FAILURE. 

about  way,  and  why  Murrow  should  hide  himself  so  very  carefully,  I 
can't  quite  understand  ;  unless " 

The  old  man  paused  and  rubbed  a  two  days'  stubble  on  his  chin 
reflectively. 

"  You  think "  I  began. 

"  I  think,"  said  he,  "  that  there  isn't  but  one  man  who  can  un 
ravel  all  this  matter." 

"  And  that  is  Murrow  ?" 

"  That  is  a  man  who  is  better  known  in  the  city  here  by  some  other 
name  than  Winters,  or  Murrow,  or  Newcombe,  and  who  doesn't  care 
to  be  known  by  either  of  those  names.  You  see,  a  rich  man  can  have 
as  many  families  as  he  likes  or  as  he  thinks  he  can  afford.  Society 
doesn't  mind  it  much,  and  if  he  is  very  rich  there  is  not  much  danger 
of  prosecution  for  bigamy.  There  is  one  thing  society  is  a  little  par 
ticular  about:  each  family  must  have  a  different  name.  This  is  a 
little  troublesome  to  the  man,  no  doubt,  and  apt  to  make  difficulty 
after  his  death." 

"  Have  Gauge  &  Swallow  any  idea  who  he  is  ?" 

"  Not  the  least.  They  believe  he  is  alive  and  in  the  city,  know  he 
is  rich  and  powerful,  but  who  he  is  they  cannot  guess.  He  might  be 
any  one  of  fifty — yes,  any  one  of  a  hundred  or  a  thousand,  for  aught  I 
know.  It  is  just  one  of  the  mysteries  of  which  a  lawyer  gets  a  glimpse 
and  may  never  learn  anything  more." 

"  Do  you  know  anything  more  about  Miss  Winters  ?" 

"  I  know,"  said  Burrill,  looking  at  me  over  his  glasses  suspi 
ciously,  "that  there  will  never  be  any  more  trance-exhibitions  nor 
type-writer  girls  in  this  office.  But  she  was  an  artist,  Miss  Winters 
was, — played  to  a  select  audience,  but  made  a  big  hit !" 

Albion  W.  Tour  gee. 


ULTIMATE  FAILURE. 

HOWEVER  much  my  arrows  have  fallen  short, 
Or  swerved  aside,  or  overshot  that  mark 
Far-set,  whose  circles  centre  but  in  Truth, 
This  the  desire — the  one  unfading  dream — 
The  hope  of  my  young  manhood, — so  to  stand, 
So  aim,  so  loose  the  tense  expectant  string, 
That,  at  the  last,  each  winged  shaft  may  fly 
Unto  the  heart  of  Truth  unerringly. 

Yet — though  I  soothe  the  sting  of  ill-success 
With  thoughts  of  Error,  lurking  in  the  grass, 
Nursing  a  wound  some  wide-flown  dart  has  given — 
A  fear  dwells  ever  at  my  inmost  soul, 
That,  haply,  ere  my  growing  skill  has  won 
The  prize — Perfection — I  may  feel  the  bow 
Break  at  full  bend,  or  hear  its  worn  cord  part, 
Or  find  the  quiver  empty  at  my  belt. 

Charles  Henry  Luders. 


OUR  FRIENDS  AND   FOES  AMONG    THE   TOADSTOOLS.        125 


OUR  FRIENDS  AND  FOES  AMONG  THE  TOADSTOOLS. 


praises  of  toadstools  have  yet  to  be  loudly  sung  in  America.  A 
small  body  of  mycophagists  are  laboring  with  might  and  main  to 
unite  an  intelligent  chorus  from  the  public  that  will  substitute  for  groans 
and  screams  of  horror  at  the  sight  of  a  toadstool  the  songs  of  gratitude 
and  adoration  so  long  sung  in  the  fatherlands  by  all  people  in  all  ages 
in  honor  of  these  food-  and  health-giving  plants  ministering  to  their 
wants  and  pleasures. 

In  the  old  countries,  where  a  dense  population  taxes  the  producing 
lands  to  their  utmost  for  a  food-supply,  fungi  of  edible  kinds  are  wel 
comed  as  the  voluntary  tributes  of  tree  and  soil  to  the  comestibles;  but 
in  America  their  generosity  is  not  appreciated.  A  knowledge  of  the 
number  of  uses  to  which  toadstools  —  so  generally  despised  —  are  put  will 
have  a  tendency  to  turn  our  kicking  propensities  into  respect. 

Toadstool,  mushroom,  fungus,  mould,  ferment,  or  by  whatever  name 
any  particular  form  of  fungoid  growth  may  be  designated,  does  not 
separate  it  from  its  kind  :  they  are  all  fungi,  and  as  such  bear  very  im 
portant  relations  to  mankind  from  their  power  for  good  or  evil. 

The  Ostiaks,  the  Kamtchadales,  and  other  inhabitants  of  Asiatic 
Russia  find  in  one  of  the  gill-bearing  family  —  the  Amanita  muscarius  — 
the  exhilaration  and  madness  that  more  civilized  nations  demand  and 
receive  of  alcohol,  and  enjoy  a  narcotism  from  its  extract  as  seductive 
as  that  of  opium.  The  Fidji  Islanders  are  indebted  to  toadstools  strung 
on  a  string  for  girdles,  which  alone  prevent  them  from  being  classed 
among  "  the  poor  and  naked  ;"  and  their  sole  aesthetic  occupation  lies 
in  ornamenting  their  limited  wardrobe.  The  Fidji  fishermen,  especially, 
value  them  highly  because  they  are  water-proof  (!). 

Cordier  tells  us  that  the  negroes  of  the  West  of  Africa  exalt  a  certain 
kind  of  Boletus  to  the  sacredness  of  a  god,  and  bow  down  in  worship 
before  it  :  for  this  reason  Afzelius  has  named  this  variety  Boletus  sacer. 

A  French  chemist  has  extracted  wax  from  the  milk-giving  kind, 
but  has  not  stated  the  price  of  the  candles  made  from  it.  Others  of 
this  delving  fraternity  have  shown  that  toadstools  may  be  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  Prussian-blue  instead  of  blood,  for,  like  certain  animal 
matter,  they  furnish  prussic  acid.  As  fungi,  after  the  manner  of  all 
animal  life,  breathe  oxygen  and  throw  off  carbonic  acid  gas,  their  flesh 
partakes  of  animal  rather  than  vegetable  nature. 

In  their  decomposition  they  are  capital  fertilizers  of  surrounding 
plants,  and  in  seasons  when  they  are  plentiful  it  will  repay  the  agri- 
cultui'ist  to  make  use  of  them  as  manure. 

According  to  LiunaBus,  the  Lapps  delighted  in  the  perfume  of 
some  species,  and  lovers  carried  them  upon  their  persons  that  they 
might  be  the  more  attractive.  Linna3us  exclaims,  "  O  Venus  !  thou 
that  scarcely  sufficest  thyself  in  other  countries  with  jewels,  diamonds, 
precious  stones,  gold,  purple,  music,  and  spectacle,  art  here  satisfied 
with  a  simple  toadstool  !" 


126        OUR   FRIENDS  AND   FOES  AMONG    THE   TOADSTOOLS. 

A  variety  of  Boletus — a  tube-bearing  species — is  powdered  and  used 
as  a  protector  of  clothing  against  the  attacks  of  insects.  The  Agaricus 
muscarius  constitutes  a  well-known  poison  to  the  common  house-fly. 
It  intoxicates  them  to  such  a  degree  that  they  can  be  swept  up  and 
destroyed.  Habitations  and  furniture  rubbed  with  it  are  shunned  by  the 
tidy  housekeeper's  terror,  bedbugs. 

Certain  Polyporei, — those  large,  dry,  corky  growths  found  upon  logs 
and  trees, — when  properly  seasoned,  sliced,  and  beaten,  engage  large 
manufactories  in  producing  from  them  the  punk  of  commerce,  used  by 
the  surgeon  for  the  arrest  of  hemorrhage,  the  artist  for  his  shading-stump, 
and  the  Fourth-of-July  urchin  for  his  pyrotechnic  purposes. 

A  species  of  Polyporus  is  used  in  Italy  as  scrubbing-brushes.  In 
countries  where  fire-producing  is  unknown  or  laborious,  and  the  luxury 
of  lucifers  denied,  the  dried  fungus  enables  the  transportation  of  fire 
from  one  place  to  another  over  great  distances.  The  inhabitants  of 
Franconia  use  them  in  hammered  slices  instead  of  chamois-skin  for 
underclothing. 

Another  Polyporus  takes  its  place  among  manufactures  as  the  highly- 
necessary  razor-strop.  Northern  nations  make  bottle-stoppers  of  them, 
as  their  corky  nature  suggests.  The  Polyporus  of  the  birch-tree  (Poly 
porus  betulinus)  increases  the  delight  of  smokers  by  its  delicate  flavor 
when  mixed  with  tobacco.  In  Bohemia  the  large  kinds  of  Polyporei  are 
used  for  flower-vases,  hanging-baskets,  and  wall-brackets :  the  writer 
made  them  ornamental  and  serviceable  in  this  way  when  living  for  many 
years  among  mountains  where  the  pottery  of  civilization  was  limited 
in  variety  and  supply ;  and  the  beautiful  white  under-surface  of  many 
kinds  can  be  prettily  ornamented  with  paintings  in  water-  or  oil-colors. 

A  species  of  puff-ball,  owing  to  its  hygrometric  properties,  makes 
an  excellent  barometer.  Others  of  the  puff-ball  family  were  used  to 
narcotize  bees  before  the  adoption  of  a  life-saving  system  for  robbing 
them  of  their  stores  of  honey,  and  as  anaesthetics,  under  whose  influ 
ence  formidable  surgical  operations  have  been  performed. 

The  Neilgherries  of  South  India  were  believed  by  the  natives  to 
have  been  inhabited  by  a  race  of  dwarfs  who  fed  upon  an  underground 
fungus  (Mylitta) :  to  this  day  it  is  called  "  little  man's  bread,"  and  it  is 
probably  the  same  fungus  that  forms  the  so-called  "  native  bread"  of 
Tasmania. 

The  Coprinus  (ink-bearing)  comatus,  found  in  great  quantities  from 
May  to  December  upon  open  commons  where  ashes  and  refuse  hstve 
been  dumped,  is  not  only  eagerly  sought  for  as  one  of  the  greatest  deli 
cacies,  but,  like  all  the  toadstools  dissolving  into  a  black  fluid  as  they 
decay,  yields  an  ink  rivalling  in  depth  of  color  and  in  permanency  the 
far-famed  black  of  the  Chinese. 

Some  varieties  of  fungi  yield  valuable  dyes.  The  kid-glove-makers 
use  them  to  obtain  delicate  shades  of  various  colors.  Woods,  cotton, 
wool,  and  silk  are  dyed  with  their  beautiful  extracts.  In  Italy  they 
are  much  used  in  these  arts,  and  the  Arabs  tax  them  to  furnish  the 
brilliant  shades  of  their  picturesque  robes. 

Ergot,  so  well  known  and  so  beneficent  in  its  medical  effects,  is  a 
fungus  (Claviceps)  gathered  from  wheat,  rye,  and  many  grasses.  Among 


OUR  FRIENDS  AND   FOES  AMONG    THE    TOADSTOOLS.       127 

the  Chinese  a  species  growing  upon  dead  caterpillars  is  highly  valued 
as  a  medicine,  and  as  a  stuffing  for  roast  ducks. 

We  can  get  along  very  well  without  the  duck-stuffing,  but  what 
could  we  do  without  yeast  ?  Where  would  be  the  occupations  of  brewer 
and  baker,  and  the  pride  of  the  housekeeper  in  her  airy  biscuit  and 
buns,  were  it  not  for  this  carbonic-acid-making  fungus,  the  yeast-maker  ? 

The  vinegar-plant  (Penicillium  crustaceum)  works  silently  in  "  ways 
that  are  dark/'  and  changes  solutions  of  sweets  into  sharp,  sprightly 
vinegar. 

These  are  some  of  the  ways  in  which  toadstools  befriend  us ;  but 
there  are  many  others.  They  are  busy  scavengers, — a  self-constituted 
and  vigilant  Board  of  Health.  They  alone  silence  more  house-flies 
than  all  the  brushes,  traps,  poisons,  whacks,  and  swearing  devoted  to 
the  extermination  of  that  saint-preventing  insect,  by  the  white  form 
which  grows  upon  them  and  weaves  them  shrouds  after  they  are  dead. 
Wasps,  caterpillars,  beetles,  and  bugs  afford  them  houses  of  which  they 
take  full  possession.  They  delight  the  epicure  with  their  delicious 
truffle  and  savory  sauces,  and  have  entered  into  a  companionship  with 
beefsteaks  as  gastronomic  delights,  inseparable  as  peaches  and  cream. 
Their  favors  and  flavors  are  known  by  the  hundreds  to  the  mycophagist 
who  is  not  afraid  to  question  and  eat  of  them. 

In  spite  of  all  the  good  toadstools  do  us,  they  pay  us  back  well  for 
our  general  dislike  and  contempt.  Our  harvests  of  grains  and  grass 
are  good  or  bad  as  their  rust-forms  decide.  They  creep  into  the  pantry, 
colonize  their  mould  shapes  upon  cake,  cheese,  bread,  and  preserve,  and 
fare  sumptuously  at  our  expense.  They  will  destroy  a  "  ten-cent  shine" 
on  a  pair  of  boots  in  a  single  night  by  planting  their  blue  forests  from 
pulling-strap  to  toe-point.  They  sow  death  where  wounds  gape  for 
their  gangrene  settlements,  and  famine  where  their  white-clad  Perono- 
spora  settles  upon  the  potato-plant  and  delves  into  its  tubers,  leaving 
them  a  mass  of  rot  and  corruption. 

Many  skin-diseases  are  due  to  their  burro  wings,  and  it  is  an  open 
question  whether  they  do  not  originate  several  of  the  well-known  human 
ailments.  They  are  the  Paul  Prys  of  plant-life. 

The  edible  varieties  are  numerous.  The  writer  has  eaten  enjoyably 
of  over  one  hundred,  and  confidently  expects  to  add  many  more  to  the 
list.  The  late  Dr.  Curtis,  of  North  Carolina,  catalogues  one  hundred 
and  twelve  edible  kinds  found  by  him  in  that  State.  Every  day  my- 
cophagists  are  adding  to  their  cuisine  species  not  heretofore  tested  to  the 
safety-point  in  eating,  and  even  those  which  have  long  borne  a  bad 
reputation. 

The  mycophagist  selects  from  wood  or  field  a  specimen  of  toadstool 
which  by  its  external  appearance  extends  an  invitation  to  try  it.  Hard, 
dry,  leathery,  fetid,  slimy,  or  decomposing  ones  are  left  rigidly  alone, — as 
they  should  be.  Carefully  removing  the  fungus  from  its  habitation,  and 
after  noting  its  botanical  characteristics,  a  small  piece  is  tasted  raw :  if 
it  is  nauseous,  it  is  thrown  away  and  branded  as  non-edible ;  if  it  is  hot, 
acrid,  or  bitter,  a  small  piece  is  cooked  without  seasoning ;  if  it  retains 
any  disagreeable  qualities  over  the  coals,  it  is  branded  in  like  manner ; 
if  it  loses  them  all,  larger  pieces  are  cooked  and  eaten  until  the  kind 


128       OUR  FRIENDS  AND  FOES  AMONG   THE   TOADSTOOLS. 

either  gives  signs  of  noxious  qualities  or  proves  to  be  harmless.  If 
the  specimen  is  mild  and  pleasant  to  the  taste  (a  small  piece)  both  raw 
and  cooked,  the  same  care  is  observed  until  a  full  meal  is  eaten ;  and  it 
is  very  necessary  that  it  should  be ;  for  in  one  family  of  gill-bearing 
toadstools — the  Amanitee — no  sign  either  cooked  or  raw  is  given  of  its 
deadly  properties.  This  is  the  only  family  to  which  deaths  have  been 
traced ;  and  the  botanical  characteristics  of  its  members  must  be 
thoroughly  mastered.  There  is  no  other  method  of  testing  that  is  safe. 
Charms  of  salt  and  silver  are  as  useless  as  the  romances  of  the  fortune 
teller,  and  even  worse ;  for,  if  believed  in,  they  inspire  a  confidence  that 
leads  directly  to  serious  results. 

Many  persons  may  experience  unpleasant  effects  from  eating  toad 
stools,  because  of  rich  cooking  or  indigestion,  which  are  not  caused  by 
inherent  injurious  properties  in  the  toadstool.  "  What  is  one  man's 
meat  is  another  man's  poison"  is  a  proverb  as  true  of  toadstools  as  any 
thing  else.  There  are  many  varieties  not  friendly  to  delicate  stomachs. 
A  wineglassful  of  whiskey  and  sweet  oil,  repeated  if  necessary,  will 
help  them  along  safely  should  they  happen  to  be  eaten.  The  effects 
of  these  kinds  are  experienced  almost  immediately  after  eating,  and 
yield  promptly  to  simple  treatment ;  but  the  poison  of  the  Ainanita 
does  not  manifest  itself  for  from  eight  to  twelve  hours  after  ingestion, 
and  by  this  peculiarity  announces  itself.  In  this  event  send  for  a  phy 
sician  at  once.  One-eightieth  to  one-sixtieth  of  a  grain  of  atropine 
administered  at  a  dose  subcutaneously  until  the  poison  is  counteracted 
is  an  antidote. 

The  object  of  the  mycologist  should  be  to  encourage  and  foster  the 
study  of  this  interesting  and  plentiful  form  of  plant-life ;  for  in  so 
doing  he  points  the  way  to  many  pleasures  and  disseminates  the  knowl 
edge  that  will  in  a  great  measure  prevent  the  accidents  occurring  from 
indiscriminate  toadstool-eating.  But,  be  this  knowledge  ever  so  wide 
spread,  there  will  be  enough  foolhardy  people  to  afford  annual  announce 
ments  of  deaths  and  wide-spread  obituary  notices  for  which  the  whole 
toadstool  family  must  suffer. 

It  is  as  supplying  stores  of  nutritive  matter  and  thus  forming  a 
most  important,  excellent,  and  delicate  food-supply  that  toadstools  are 
of  most  value.  Almost  everything  contributes  to  the  arts,  but  food- 
supply  is  limited  to  digestible  things.  To  the  inhabitants  of  many 
nations  toadstools — in  their  edible  capacity — are  most  important.  The 
Russians  pay  particular  attention  to  their  economy  and  cooking.  The 
Italian  peasants  regard  toadstools  as  among  their  greatest  blessings.  In 
England  all  of  the  edible  varieties  are  eagerly  sought  after :  tons 
daily  find  their  way  from  wood  and  field  to  the  markets  of  towns  and 
cities  and  the  great  manufactories  of  sauces  and  pickles.  Everywhere 
in  Europe  they  are  dried  for  winter  use.  In  France,  especially,  much 
attention  is  paid  to  the  cultivation  of  the  toadstool  of  commerce,  and  it 
constitutes  an  enormous  industry.  Ten  thousand  tons  are  annually 
produced  by  one  cultivator.  In  October  of  1885  the  writer  saw  the 
outlying  commons  of  Boston,  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Philadelphia 
covered  with  men,  women,  and  children  gathering  the  prolific  and  deli 
cate  Agaricus  comatus  (Coprinus)  by  huge  basketfuls  for  the  use  of 


OUR  FRIENDS  AND  FOES  AMONG    THE   TOADSTOOLS.       J29 

hotels,  clubs,  and  private  families.     Until  within  a  very  few  years  this 
same  Coprinus  was  classed  among  poisonous  toadstools  ! 

But  few  varieties  yield  the  secrets  of  the  necessaries  for  their  culti 
vation.  Most  of  them  positively  refuse  to  impart  the  knowledge  to 
the  most  seductive  care  and  closest  imitations  of  their  natural  homes 
and  haunts,  and  therefore  can  be  found  only  upon  the  spote  and  within 
the  circles  Dame  Nature  has  assigned  to  them. 

They  will  not  colonize ;  they  will  not  emigrate ;  they  will  not  be 
cheated  out  of  their  natural  possessions ;  they  refuse  to  be  educated, 
and  stand  themselves  upon  their  single  leg  as  the  most  independent  and 
contrary  growth  with  which  man  has  to  deal. 

Compared  with  a  toadstool,  the  North  American  Indian  is  a  saint 
for  educational  and  implanting  purposes,  the  Berkshire  pig  as  tractable 
as  an  oyster,  and  the  long-stigmatized  mule  a  model  of  amiability. 
The  Polyporei  climb  trees ;  their  twin  brother,  the  Boletus,  will  not  do 
so  under  any  circumstances.  The  Truffle  hides  under  ground  ;  the 
Lycoperdon  camps  on  the  ground  and  enjoys  the  ligneous  stupidity  of 
rotten  stumps ;  the  Hydnei  are  more  Bohemian,  and  the  Agaricini  are 
cosmopolitan.  No  mortal,  yet,  has  found  the  spot  where  a  toadstool  of 
some  kind  does  not  grow, — even  upon  metals, — and  yet  not  over  a  dozen 
varieties,  of  the  many  thousands,  will  allow  themselves  to  be  taken 
from  their  natural  habitat  to  live  and  grow  in  another  mocking  it  as 
intimately  as  the  proverbial  pair  of  peas.  They  are  loyal  beyond  pre 
cedent  to  their  native  soil,  and  not  willing  to  accept  naturalization- 
papers  from  any  one  or  for  any  purpose,  no  matter  how  politic  the 
tendering. 

What  we  see  of  their  lives  is  soon  told.  Turn  up  any  mass  of  garden 
mould,  or  mat  of  wood  leaf,  and  slipping  through  every  crack  or  cranny 
will  be  found  a  white  web-like  structure  easily  mistakable  for  mould 
itself,  and  by  the  uninitiated  thought  to  be  so.  This  tracery  of  delicate 
fibre  is  composed  of  strings  of  single  cells  strung  together  by  their  ends, 
and  is  the  vine  or  mycelium  upon  which  some  kind  of  a  toadstool  will 
group.  While  other  plants  give  outward  marks  of  what  their  fruit 
will  be,  the  mycelium  tells  nothing:  the  silence  of  a  sound-asleep 
oyster  is  a  pandemonium  to  it.  It  will  not  even  hint  to  the  mycologist 
what  sort  of  toadstool  it  will  bear.  Whether  this  mycelium  penetrates 
the  bark  of  trees  and  wanders  among  the  sap-cells,  whether  among  leaf 
or  earth,  in  rotten  log  or  living  tissues,  it  will  some  day  under  favoring 
influences  gather  a  lot  of  cells  into  a  minute  knob,  each  one  of  which  will 
go  to  cell-making  with  more  system  and  industry  than  any  honey-bee, 
pushing,  crowding,  running  their  filaments  by  end-growth  intricately 
among  one  another,  until  the  growing  knob  reaches  a  surface  and  comes 
within  the  reach  of  light  and  air.  Then  a  heavy  dew  or  tempered 
rain  softens  the  compressed  earth  surrounding  it — cell-making  goes  on 
as  rapidly  as  water  satisfies  their  thirst — the  knob  breaks  through — its 
outer  integument  of  cell-shreds  gives  way — the  head  of  the  growth 
pops  out — the  cells  increase  in  size  and  number — growth  goes  on  until 
the  full-grown  toadstool  stands  completed,  a  marvel  from  Nature's 
workshop.  Its  mission  is  a  simple  one, — to  obey  the  first  law  of  nature 
and  produce  after  its  kind.  From  its  gills  or  tubes,  or  of  whatever  shape 
VOL.  XLII.— 9 


130       OUR  FRIENDS  AND  FOES  AMONG   THE   TOADSTOOLS. 

its  spore-bearing  surface  may  be,  it  produces  and  casts  off  millions  of 
single  cells,  in  no  wise  visibly  differing  from  those  cells  producing  them. 
These  cells  or  spores  correspond  to  the  seeds  of  plants,  and,  like  them, 
are  intended  to  produce  future  plants  of  the  toadstool  kind.  So  numer 
ous  are  they  that  they  will  print  the  exact  spore-bearing  surface  of  most 
gill-bearing  kinds  upon  paper  or  other  like  substance  upon  which  that 
surface  is  laid,  in  a  few  hours,  and  yet  so  minute  is  the  spore  that  it 
requires  the  aid  of  a  microscope  of  considerable  power  to  render  it 
visible. 

Plain  as  the  fact  of  their  spore  marriage  is,  its  secrets  are  so  well  kept 
that  even  gossiping  microscopes  are  not  allowed  to  visit  the  ceremony. 
When  in  a  very  few  instances  they  have  been  caught,  they  have  said 
plainly  to  man,  "  Know  yourselves,  and  you  will  probably  know  us." 

Simple  as  is  their  construction,  being  nothing  more  in  every  stage 
of  their  growth  than  a  ramifying  mass  of  simple  ovate  cells  strung 
together  at  their  ends,  and  of  which  the  seeds  or  spores  are  but  detached 
single  ones,  they  are  so  truly  cryptogamic  as  to  leave  us  in  almost 
total  ignorance  of  their  method  of  reproduction. 

After  toadstools  show  themselves  outside  their  fructified  wrappers, 
they  are  recognized  by  the  mycologist,  classified,  and  named,  yielding 
most  of  their  secrets  to  his  curiosity. 

Those  having  gills  or  plaits  under  their  caps  are  called  Agarics ; 
those  having  thousands  of  mouths  on  a  sponge-like  surface,  Polyporei, 
or  Boleti ;  those  having  spikes  or  mane-like  protuberances  upon  the 
under  side  of  their  caps,  Hydnei ;  the  clubbed,  or  coral-shaped,  Cla- 
varei ;  and  the  round  puff-ball,  with  the  spore-bearing  surface  tied  up 
inside  of  a  cover,  Lycoperdons. 

The  surfacas  described  are  for  the  purpose  of  spore-bearing. 

It  can  be  safely  said  that  all  Clavarei  not  bitter  when  raw  are 
edible ;  none  of  them  are  known  to  be  noxious.  Many  of  them  are 
leathery  by  nature,  and  should  be  cooked  over  a  slow  fire  until  soft,  or 
they  are  not  fit  to  eat. 

All  of  the  Hydnei  are  good  when  young  and  in  healthy  condition. 

The  tribe  of  Polyporei  is  divided  into  two  classes.  Polyporei  proper 
are  those  coriaceous  growths  found  on  trees  or  wood,  with  thousands 
of  mouths  on  their  under  surface  to  tubes  which  are  not  separable 
from  their  caps  or  from  themselves.  Some  of  the  softer  varieties  are 
edible  when  not  bitter,  especially  those  found  upon  the  birch-tree,  and 
the  huge  masses  of  oyster-like  folds  known  as  the  wood-hen.  The 
Boleti  have  the  same  tubes  and  mouths,  which  are  separable  from  their 
tops  and  themselves,  but  when  hot,  bitter,  acrid,  water-soaked,  or  slimy, 
should  not  be  eaten.  Many  of  the  Boleti  change  color  to  red  or  blue 
when  cut  or  bruised :  this  is  not  a  sign  of  danger  when  the  flesh  is  sweet 
and  mild  to  the  taste.  The  Boleti  are  a  very  numerous  family,  living 
in  wooded  haunts  or  pasture-margins,  and  most  of  them  are  more  deli 
cate  in  flesh  and  higher  in  flavor  than  the  common  mushroom.  Among 
the  ancient  Romans  they  were  high  in  favor  as  the  Suillus  spoken  of  by 
Pliny,  and  to  this  day  the  Italian  peasantry  make  them  an  important 
article  of  food,  either  when  fresh,  or  when  cut  in  slices  and  dried  for 
winter  use. 


OUR  FRIENDS  AND  FOES  AMONG   THE   TOADSTOOLS.       131 

The  much-kicked  and  thoroughly-despised  puff-balls  are  properly 
so  treated  when  they  reach  the  dust-giving  age,  because  they  are  then 
too  old  to  eat ;  but  when  young  their  white  flesh  is  very  tempting,  and, 
when  not  changing  color  to  any  shade  of  yellow  upon  being  cut  or 
broken,  will  be  pronounced  by  the  most  fastidious  equal  to  any  table- 
delicacy.  All  white-fleshed  puff-balls  are  edible. 

The  power  of  cell -building  is  well  exemplified  by  them.  It  is  re 
corded  of  a  puff-ball  that  it  has  raised  a  stone  weighing  ninety  pounds 
one  and  a  half  inches ;  and  the  pavement  of  a  whole  Spanish  city  has 
been  disturbed  by  these  silent  lifters,  unauthorized  by  its  highway  de 
partment.  They  push  through  dry  surfaces  that  the  pick  refuses  to 
enter,  and  have  a  way  of  growing  under  difficulties  that  commands  re 
spect.  To  any  one  who  will  take  the  pains  to  examine  their  cheese-like 
interiors,  they  will  commend  themselves,  even  raw. 

By  far  the  most  numerous  tribe  is  that  called  Agaricini, — a  gill- 
bearing  tribe.  To  it  belongs  the  common  mushroom  of  commerce, — the 
Agaricus  campestris,  Agaricus  arvensis,  Horse  mushroom,  Champignon, 
— never  was  anything  in  nature  so  titled.  Everybody  thinks  that  he  or 
she  knows  it,  and  yet  few  do.  It  varies  so  in  shape,  color,  size,  and  at 
different  stages  of  its  growth,  that  even  the  expert  is  puzzled  in  deciding 
to  which  of  its  many  named  varieties  it  belongs.  In  a  firm  belief  of 
knowledge  of  it  by  the  amateur  lies  the  great  danger  of  toadstool-eating ; 
for  a  small  family  of  this  tribe,  numbering  about  thirty  members,  and 
called  Amanitse,  contains  at  least  twenty  members  possessing  properties 
so  insinuating  and  deadly  that,  until  within  the  few  last  months,  those 
who  ate  of  them  were  doomed  to  certain  death,  because  the  antidote  to 
this  subtle  poison  was  not  certainly  known.  In  their  button-shaped 
youth  they  so  closely  resemble  the  common  field-mushroom  that  they 
are  gathered  with  them,  and  get  in  their  deadly  work  on  the  sanguine. 
Owing  to  their  perfect  structure,  they  stand  at  the  head  of  toadstools. 

Of  this  family  several  members  are  harmless  and  delicious ;  but  it 
is  best  for  the  collector  to  imagine  the  word  "  poison"  inscribed  in  big 
letters  upon  any  toadstool  found  having  a  bulbous  stem  with  a  sheath 
about  it,  a  ring,  rind,  or  apron-like  surrounding  near  the  top  of  the 
stem,  white  gills,  and,  upon  the  cap  of  the  toadstool,  warts,  scales, 
scruff,  or  floccose  remains. 

Many  varieties  of  toadstools  interfere  with  the  digestion,  stirring 
up  cramps  and  intestinal  troubles,  but,  as  said  before,  none  but  the 
Amanitse  have  been  known  to  cause  death. 

The  Amanitse  always  have  a  volva  or  sheath  around  the  stem  at  or  in 
the  surface  of  the  ground;  when  this,  or  remnants  of  it,  are  found  upon 
any  toadstool,  throw  it  away,  unless  the  finder  is  sure  of  discriminating 
between  the  edible  and  non-edible  Amanitse. 

The  object  of  this  article  is  to  encourage  the  readers  to  notice  and 
be  friendly  to  toadstools,  and  to  enter  into  a  study  of  them  which 
cannot  fail  to  give  intellectual  and  stomachic  delights ;  but  it  would  be 
criminal  to  prompt  a  study  which  might  lead  to  danger  without 
strongly  impressing  the  characteristics  of  one  of  the  most  deadly  of 
poisonous  plants, — the  Amanita. 

In  August  of  1885,  two  of  a  family  of  five,  residing  in  Shenandoah, 


132       OUR  FRIENDS  AND  FOES  AMONG   THE   TOADSTOOLS. 

Pennsylvania,  died  from  eating  toadstools.  All  were  terribly  poisoned, 
but  the  skill  of  the  attending  physician  saved  three  of  the  sufferers  by 
hypodermically  administering  atropia,  from  one-eightieth  to  one-sixtieth 
of  a  grain  at  a  dose,  until,  in  those  whose  lives  were  saved,  the  amount 
reached  one  thirty-sixth  of  a  grain.  The  writer  was  fortunate  in  being 
able  to  obtain  samples  of  the  toadstools  eaten,  and  in  being  able  to 
identify  among  them  the  Amanita  vernus — one  of  the  deadliest  of  its 
family — and  thus  knowing  the  poisonous  Amanita  to  have  been  for  the 
first  time  face  to  face  in  the  human  system  with  its  antidote,  atropine, — 
a  product  of  the  nightshade,  deadly  as  the  Amanita  itself. 

None  other  of  the  gill-bearing  family — Agarics — are  known  to  be 
poisonous.  Several  of  its  members  have  effects  upon  the  human  econ 
omy  which  make  them  improper  as  food,  but,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Amanitse,  a  rule  can  be  established :  all  Agarics  mild  to  the  taste 
when  raw,  if  they  commend  themselves  in  other  ways,  are  edible. 

Common  sense  must  guide  the  consumer, — the  same  sense  that  is 
used  in  the  selection  of  other  food, — and  that  sense,  properly  exercised, 
will  furnish  to  the  possessors  of  it  many  dishes  delicate  and  delicious. 
So  numerous  are  toadstools,  so  well  does  a  study  of  them  define  their 
habits  and  habitats,  that  the  writer  never  fails,  upon  any  day  from  April 
to  December,  to  find  ample  supply  of  healthy,  nutritious,  delicate  toad 
stools  for  himself  and  family. 

The  old  saying  of  many — that "  only  one  kind  is  fit  to  eat" — is  easily 
expunged  from  proverb  sanctity.  Every  bite  of  good,  ripe  cheese  in 
cludes  thousands  of  toadstools ;  every  piece  of  bread,  every  drop  of 
vinegar,  every  apple,  tomato,  pear,  or  peach,  every  drink  of  water, 
every  breath  inhaled,  includes  with  it  the  despised  toadstools  or  their 
spores  in  some  of  their  many  shapes. 

It  would  not  be  proper  to  leave  the  reader  to  grope  in  search  of  the 
literature  of  this  interesting  subject. 

The  best  publication  for  the  beginner  in  the  study  of  toadstools  is 
the  portfolio  "  Mushrooms  of  America,"  by  Julius  A.  Palmer,  pub 
lished  by  Messrs.  L.  Prang  &  Co.,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  1885.  The 
numerous  colored  plates  it  contains  of  the  edible  and  suspicious  kinds 
are  a  quick  guide  to  a  knowledge  of  a  few  prominent  varieties.  For 
further  investigation  and  classification,  "Cook's  Hand-Book  of  British 
Fungi,"  two  volumes,  Macmillan  &  Co.,  London,  now  out  of  print, 
but  shortly  to  appear  in  a  new  edition,  is  the  best  and  most  complete 
hand-book  in  the  English  language.  "  Fungi,  their  Nature,  Uses,  etc.," 
in  the  International  Series,  contains  much  interesting  information.  The 
works  of  Cordier  and  Sicard,  written  in  the  French  language,  and 
containing  many  fine  colored  plates,  are  indispensable  to  the  student 
who  desires  extensive  and  technical  information  upon  edible  and  non- 
edible  fungi.  During  the  present  season  the  writer  hopes  to  complete 
for  publication  a  hand-book  upon  American  fungi,  plainly  describing 
such  varieties  as  his  own  experience  and  that  of  others  have  proved  to 
be  either  edible  or  injurious. 

Charles  McUvaine. 


A    CASE  OF  WEAKNESS  FOR    THE  FIRST  PERSON  SINGULAR.    133 


A    CASE  OF   WEAKNESS  FOR   THE  FIRST  PERSON 

SINGULAR. 

MOST  gentle  reader !  did  it  ever  occur  to  you  to  be  of  Charles 
Lamb's  mind,  so  that  one  may  look  back  on  himself,  after  a 
certain  lapse  of  time,  with  an  affectionate  longing  and  homage  which 
have  nothing  to  do  with  egotism? — to  agree  with  his  friend  Words 
worth,  moreover,  that  the  child  is  father  to  the  man,  and  to  deduce 
that  the  sentiment  is  but  proper  filial  deference  ?  Having  experienced 
this  blameless  and  unabashed  enthusiasm  of  retrospect,  I  feel  bound 
to  justify  it  in  my  own  case;  for  the  gods  saw  me  going,  of  late,  over 
the  lands  of  my  forsaken  school  at  Grosvenor,  with  a  preposterous  ten 
derness,  not  for  the  "  good  gray  heads"  nor  the  ennobling  associations 
thereof,  but  for  the  once  Myself,  the  twelve-years-old  vagabond,  who, 
ere  its  first  stormy  term  was  out,  had  slid  down  every  spout  and  climbed 
every  tree  in  that  Arcadian  enclosure.  The  magnificent  oak,  northeast 
from  the  chapel,  even,  was  no  longer  the  venerable  sovereign  of  our 
woods,  a  splendid  dome-like  harborage  of  hale  and  glossy  leaves;  it 
had  become  merely  the  green  tent  under  which  I  confided  to  W.,  of  a 
September  morn,  that  my  mind  was  not  quite  settled  on  the  point  of 
my  future  avocation  ;  that  while  the  flesh  desired  the  guardianship  of  a 
fruit-stand,  where  should  be  heaped  apples  of  all  races,  limes,  tamarinds, 

Mauna,  and  dates  in  argosies  transferred 
From  Fez, 

to  be  dispensed  to  the  hungry  public  at  touchingly  low  rates,  yet  some 
thing  aspiring  and  harassingly  urgent  in  my  conscience  laid  it  upon  me 
to  be  a  fireman  or  a  car-driver  as  soon  as  I  should  grow  up ! 

Next,  turning  from  the  oak,  I  caught  myself  beaming  approvingly 
on  a  wide,  neatly-gravelled  circular  path ;  for  none  other  reason,  on 
analysis,  but  that,  in  the  prehistoric  era,  it  had  been  called  the  race 
course,  and  that  there — sound  the  loud  timbrel ! — I  had  actually  beaten 
G.  F.,  our  crack  runner,  with  three  incidental  bars  to  clear,  by  a  full  sec 
ond  and  a  half.  I  paid  tribute  to  a  group  of  lordly  elms,  where  the  oriole's 
old,  old  nest — how  well  I  remember  the  spring  she  built  it ! — hung  in 
yet  distinguishable  fragments  from  the  sheltered  bough  :  solely  because 
of  the  desk  in  the  hall  up-stairs  which  was  level  with  their  tops,  and 
the  young  truant  eyes  that  strayed  from  tasks  a  hundred  times  an  hour 
to  their  cool  undulating  beauty.  I  caressed  the  creaking  barnyard -gate, 
for  the  sake  of  the  idler  who  had  swung  there,  who  there  flew  to  fisticuffs 
with  handsome  professorial  C.  on  a  question  of  beetles,  and  who,  be 
side  the  neighboring  mossy  wall,  had  buried  D.'s  stilts  when  D.  had 
seemed  illiberal  on  the  score  of  lending  them  to  deserving  parties.  The 
carriage-house  took  on  a  sort  of  glory  to  me,  as  I  remembered  my  frac 
tured  arm,  the  reward  of  glorious  gymnastics  on  its  roof;  as  did  the 
stately  bronze  Euterpe  facing  the  front  porch,  when  I  recalled  the  um- 


134   A    CASE   OF  WEAKNESS  FOR    THE  FIRST  PERSON  SINGULAR. 

brella  and  old  straw  hat  supplied  her  for  the  edification  of  visitors ; 
and,  yea !  on  the  battered  shed  in  the  shadow  of  the  pines  I  looked 
with  superstitious  fondness,  since  there  had  hung  the  woolly  residue  of 
the  chivalrous  ram  Jehosaphat,  who  had  horned  me  more  than  once, 
and  who,  condemned  to  die  for  a  last  bravado,  had  taken  from  my  hand, 
with  a  conciliatory  tear  in  his  eye,  the  final  apple  of  his  final  hour  on 
earth,  while  the  great  knives  were  already  on  the  grindstone,  and  the 
pebbles  gathering  in  fat  B.  W.'s  pockets,  to  shy,  in  posthumous  ven 
geance,  at  his  bleaching  hide. 

Here  was  the  great  corn-bin,  where  in  my  exploring  youth  I  had 
been  lost  for  a  half-day ;  here  the  disused  chimney  whence  I  scouted 
and  spied,  time  out  of  mind,  for  a  trembling  knot  of  fugitives ;  here 
the  fragrant  quince-orchard,  at  whose  gnarled  knees  I  had  conned  data 
for  examinations  and  indited  letters,  few  but  warm,  to  my  best  R.  at 
home;  here  the  slope,  thick  with  daisies,  where  I  lay,  heels  in  air, 
telling  sanguinary  pirate-tales  to  virtuous  little  Bub  C.  (jam  cinis  esfy, 
and  spoiling  him  for  his  books  for  weeks  after.  Always  the  vision  of 
what  was  I  pursuing  me,  forerunning  me,  throwing  that  ridiculous 
pathetic  halo  over  the  old  scenes  !  Here  was  the  long  grove  where  I 
was  an  Indian  hunter,  realistic  to  the  point  of  red  paint  and  much- 
diminished  clothing;  the  ring  of  cedars  which  was  my  gypsy-camp, 
and,  by  ever-recurring  changes,  the  deck  of  a  man-o'-war ;  the  luthern- 
window  under  which  I  stood  with  hopeful  serenaders,  when  they  culled 
from  the  responsive  shower  maple-sugar,  and  I,  alas !  only  kindred- 
colored  soap ;  the  tall  wistaria  to  whose  roots  I  confided  the  bones  of 
my  first  rhymes,  with  a  horrible  fear  out  of  the  mythology  lest  it 
should  tell  on  me,  like  King  Midas's  barber's  reeds ;  the  great  field  by 
the  beech-nuts,  arena  of  Prisoners'  Base,  French  and  Indians,  Bar-Up, 
and  Foot-Ball,  and  of  that  battle  whence  I  carried  to  the  house,  with 
my  chum  of  the  hour,  a  poor,  disabled  cavalryman  whose  fifth  valuable 
horse  had  been  shot  under  him  that  keen  midwinter  afternoon. 

Ah,  it  dawned  upon  me  that  I  loved,  beyond  denial,  that  dear,  queer 
play-fellow,  that  vanished  tatterdemalion  progenitor ;  pilgrimaging  from 
place  to  place  entirely  for  its  sake,  and  lingering  over  the  very  grass 
that  had  been  pressed  by  its  quick,  secure  footsteps.  I  remembered  its 
humorous  quandaries  of  allegiance  while  it  studied  with  one  set  and 
enjoyed  itself  with  another,  its  body  being  hopelessly  primitive  and 
barbaric  to  its  rather  progressive  mind ;  how  it  abhorred  fuss  and 
feathers ;  how  it  speculated  early  on  what  the  world  called  success,  and 
swore  for  Hector  against  the  Grecian  victor,  and  for  Hannibal  against 
the  Roman ;  how  it  bore  any  pain  with  pleased  carelessness,  took  pro 
digious  pride  in  its  own  bumps  and  scars,  and  yet  had  the  surgical 
instinct,  and  carried  salves  and  plasters  for  the  alleviation  of  its  young 
companions'  wounds ;  how  it  paced  often  the  garden-path  to  the  gate, 
poor  little  heart,  cooling  off  its  anger,  dreaming  of  its  first  flame,  the 
Louisianian  maid  aged  eighteen,  in  whom  was  "  all  that's  best  of  dark 
and  bright,"  or  trying  to  square  its  hurt  notions  of  justice  with  the 
shortcomings  it  suspected  in  the  educational  system.  What  frank 
affections  it  had !  what  fine  scorns  !  what  reserve  and  privacy,  despite  its 
genial  temperament !  Altogether  a  natural,  unsophisticated  imp. 


BEAUTY  IN  LOVE.  135 

Thus,  mindful  of  it,  and  oddly  oblivious  of  better  things,  I  crossed 
the  great  ridge  where  the  underbrush  has  towered  into  a  wood,  past  the 
steep,  polished  rock  down  which  that  haunting  ancestral  juvenility 
was  wont  to  slide  with  shouts  of  glee,  past  the  beautiful  babbling 
brook  where  a  certain  fast  toy-schooner  was  sailed,  and  a  certain 
snub-nosed,  bandy-legged,  long-cherished  only  rubber  doll  sternly 
buried,  still  in  puris  not.,  the  stone  affixed  to  its  luckless  neck  ;  past  the 
brook,  with  its  musk-rat  castles  under  the  banks,  and  its  verdant 
corners  where  violets  were  plucked  one  first  of  December ;  past  the 
healed-over  site  of  the  little  pond,  navigated  of  yore  by  the  fleet  of 
tadpoles,  each  a  black  speck  in  his  white  gondola;  past  the  silver- 
birches  where  Grosvenor  kittens  and  sparrows  were  laid  with  the 
"  pomp  and  circumstance"  of  a  mock-military  funeral,  to  the  slender 
bridge,  renewed  after  many  a  spring  flood,  over  the  golden-sanded 
stream.  And  there  sat  I,  musing,  where  the  young  spectre,  of  course, 
with  its  absurd  freckles,  had  swung  its  long  pony  legs,  and  fished  for 
minnows,  before  me. 

Dear  N.,  for  one,  dead  in  the  far  South,  would  never  run,  with 
black  hair  tossing  in  the  wind,  across  that  stony  New  England  arch 
again.  E.,  gentle,  steady  E.,  was  fathom-deep  in  responsibilities;  and 
V.,  that  learned  elder,  in  the  thick  of  a  valiant  fight.  I  thought  of 
blond  B.,  who  walked  with  a  rollicking  French  song  ever  at  the  lip, 
over  whom  a  bitter  tragedy  had  fallen ;  of  sturdy- hearted  L.  R.,  an 
anchored  soul ;  of  J.,  the  interrogative,  worlds  away ;  of  S.,  whom  the 
years  had  changed  out  of  all  comradeship ;  of  little  H.,  youngest  and 
winsomest,  who  had  unaccountably — grown  up  !  They  had  all  grown 
up,  somehow,  and  gone  into  trades,  fortunes,  experiences,  marriages;  into 
development,  failure,  triumph,  felicity,  exile,  or  the  grave.  I  felt  that 
I  was  jilted  by  Fate,  and  left  behind.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  was 
the  gloomiest  or  the  pleasantest  thing  in  the  world  to  me,  as  I  sat 
there,  listening  to  the  musical  lapses  of  the  clear  water,  that  if  the 
Ego-child,  with  its  cart,  or  its  beloved  sword  and  gun,  had  but  chanced 
thither  out  of  ghost-land,  we  should  have  met  without  forced  relation 
ship,  without  question,  without  wonder,  not  quite  estranged  after  these 
many  moiling  years,  with  no  dearer,  mutual  wish  than  to  study  ever  so 
little,  and  play  together  forever  over  the  happy  acres  of  Grosvenor ! 

Louise  Imogen  Quinsy. 


BEAUTY  IN  LOVE. 

T  IKE  what,  this  full,  this  Persia-odored  rose  ? 
I  J     Like  beauty's  bosom  when  with  passion  stirred; 
These  billowy  leaves,  soft  tumult  that  it  shows 

When  love  breathes  from  it,  but  no  sound  is  heard ! 

Charlotte  Fiske  Bates. 


136  OUR  MONTHLY  GOSSIP 

OUE  MONTHLY   GOSSIP 
WITH  READERS  AND  CORRESPONDENTS. 


"Who  wrote  a  hymn  beginning  'A  safe  stronghold  our  God  is  still'?" 
ANNA  H.  S. 

No  less  a  man  than  Martin  Luther,  the  hymn  being  familiarly  known  as 
"Luther's  Hymn."  It  is  a  paraphrase  of  Psalm  xlvi.  It  is  now  generally 
held  to  have  been  written  in  1529  and  first  printed  in  a  hymn-book  published 
at  Wittenberg  in  that  year.  No  copy  of  this  book  is  now  known  to  be  in  exist 
ence,  but  it  was  reprinted  entire  in  a  German  newspaper  in  1788.  There  is  a 
picturesque  legend  which  has  been  widely  accepted,  but  which  has  no  historical 
foundation,  that  the  hymn  originated  during  Luther's  stay  in  Oppenheim  while 
journeying  to  Worms  to  appear  before  the  Diet  in  1521.  On  that  famous  journey 
he  was  warned  not  to  enter  Worms,  and  replied  in  his  letter  to  Spalatin,  "  And 
if  there  were  as  many  devils  in  Worms  as  tiles  on  the  roofs  I  would  go  in."  The 
picture  of  a  city  full  of  devils  has  become  a  world  full  of  devils  in  the  poem,  a 
coincidence  that  led  admirers  of  Luther  to  jump  at  the  conclusion  that  he  had 
written  the  hymn  in  1521.  Luther  composed  a  melody  for  the  words,  but  the 
melody  was  subsequently  harmonized  by  his  friend  Johann  Walter.  The  best 
English  translation  of  the  hymn  is  by  Carlyle,  first  published  in  Fraser's  Maga 
zine  in  1831,  which  reproduces  much  of  the  rugged  energy  of  the  original.  In 
his  prefatory  remarks  Carlyle  says,  "  The  following  jars  upon  our  ears,  yet  is 
there  something  in  it  like  the  sound  of  Alpine  avalanches,  or  the  first  murmur 
of  earthquakes,  in  the  very  vastness  of  which,  dissonance  a  higher  unison  ia 
revealed  to  us."  "  Luther's  hymns  are  even  more  remarkable  than  his  prose 
work,"  says  Heine.  "  Oftentimes  they  resemble  a  flower  blooming  on  a  rock ; 
oftentimes  they  are  like  a  moonbeam  shimmering  across  a  tossing  sea.  In  this 
respect  also  he  merits  the  name  of  the  Swan  of  Eisleben.  He  was,  however, 
anything  but  a  mild  swan  in  many  of  his  songs,  in  which  he  rouses  the  courage 
of  his  followers  and  inspires  himself  with  fiercest  ardor  for  the  contest.  A  true 
war-song  was  that  defiant  lay  with  which  he  and  his  companions  entered  Worms. 
The  old  cathedral  trembled  at  such  unwonted  strains,  and  the  ravens  were  terri 
fied  in  their  obscure  nests  up  in  the  church  towers.  This  song — the  Marseillaise 
Hymn  of  the  Reformation — preserves  even  yet  its  power  of  inspiring  men,  and 
perhaps  we  may  ere  long  have  need  in  similar  combats  of  the  old  mail-clad 
words." 

EDITOR  "MONTHLY  GOSSIP," — In  your  magazine  for  May  you  open  the 
question  of  the  death  of  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus  in  the  Red  Sea. 

In  "  Moslems  and  Mummies,"  written  some  ten  years  ago  by  C.  D.  Warner, 
it  was  stated  that  the  celebrated  Egyptologist  Mariette  Bey  had  discovered  the 
tomb  of  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus,  on  which  were  described  the  loss  of  his 
army  in  the  Red  Sea,  his  subsequent  career  of  battles  and  conquest,  and  death. 

The  historical  Biblical  record  does  not  state  his  death.  In  the  Psalms  (poet 
ical)  we  do  not  expect  as  strictly  correct  a  statement. 

H.  A.  S. 


OUR  MONTHLY  GOSSIP.  137 

A.  G.  M.,  who  has  read  a  great  deal  about  the  "  Arcadia,"  but  has  been 
deterred  by  its  bulk  and  generally  uninviting  look  from  reading  it,  asks  the 
Gossip  to  give  him  some  general  idea  of  the  story. 

The  "  Arcadia,"  then,  was  a  pastoral  romance  by  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  begun 
in  1580  at  the  request  of  his  sister,  the  Countess  of  Pembroke,  left  unfinished  at 
his  death,  published,  contrary  to  his  expressed  desires,  in  1590,  under  the  title 
of  "The  Countess  of  Pembroke's  Arcadia."  By  1764  it  had  passed  through 
sixteen  editions.  Though  it  owed  something  to  Sanuazaro's  "  Arcadia"  as  well 
as  to  Montemayor's  "  Diana"  and  to  the  Greek  romantic  novelists,  it  probably 
gave  a  greater  impulse  to  the  romantic  style  of  fiction  than  any  work  that  has 
appeared  before  or  since.  Cowley  and  Waller  praised  it,  Charles  I.  read  it 
during  his  imprisonment,  and  Milton  accuses  the  king  of  having  repeated  at  his 
execution  a  prayer  borrowed  from  that  "vain  amatorious  poem."  Shirley's  drama 
of  "  Arcadia"  (1640, 4to)  is  founded  on  the  romance,  and  so  also  is  Day's  "  Isle  of 
Gulls"  (1606).  Its  many  separate  episodes  have  also  been  freely  utilized.  Thus, 
the  story  of  Eangus  is  the  origin  of  Shirley's  "  Andromana"  and  of  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher's  "  Cupid's  Revenge ;"  the  episode  of  Argalus  and  Parthenia  was 
turned  into  a  poem  by  Francis  Quarles  (1621)  and  dramatized  by  Henry  Glap- 
thorne  (1639)  ;  while  the  scene  in  the  "  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona"  where  Val 
entine  leagues  himself  with  the  outlaws,  and  the  underplot  in  "King  Lear" 
concerning  Gloster  and  his  two  sons,  have  evident  parallels  in  the  romance.  The 
situation  also  of  Zelmane  in  female  attire  anticipates  many  Elizabethan  dramas 
which  turned  upon  confusions  of  sex.  The  main  plot,  though  complicated  with 
episodes,  digressions,  and  poems,  is  comparatively  slender,  and  turns  upon  the 
efforts  of  Basilius,  Prince  of  Arcadia,  to  evade  the  following  oracle : 

Thy  elder  care  shall  from  thy  careful  face 
By  princely  mean  be  stolen  and  yet  not  lost ; 
Thy  younger  shall  with  nature's  bliss  embrace 
An  uncouth  love  which  nature  hateth  most. 
Both  they  themselves  unto  such  two  shall  wed 
Who  at  thy  bier  as  at  a  bar  shall  plead 
Why  thee  (a  living  man)  they  had  made  dead. 
In  thine  own  seat  a  foreign  state  shall  sit, 
And  ere  that  all  these  blows  thy  head  do  hit, 
Thou  with  thy  wife  adultery  shall  commit. 

The  precautions  of  Basilius  consisted  in  retiring  from  his  court  into  a  forest, 
where  he  built  two  lodges,  in  one  of  which  he  lived  with  his  queen  Gyneceia 
and  his  younger  daughter  Philoclea,  while  in  the  other  his  elder  daughter  Pamela 
was  placed  under  the  care  of  a  clown,  Dametas.  No  men  are  allowed  to  approach 
these  lodges  save  a  priest  and  some  shepherds  skilled  in  music.  But  it  happens 
that  two  princes,  Musidorus  and  Pyrocles,  are  shipwrecked  on  the  Laconian 
coast  and  after  a  short  separation  meet  again  in  Arcadia.  They  determine  to  win 
the  princesses.  Musidorus  disguises  himself  as  a  shepherd,  and  by  feigning  love 
to  Dametas's  ugly  daughter,  Mopsa,  is  enabled  to  reach  Pamela.  Pyrocles  dons 
Amazon's  attire,  and,  under  the  name  of  Zelmane,  is  admitted  by  Basilius  to  his 
lodge.  Musidorus  persuades  Pamela  to  fly  with  him.  Meanwhile,  Pyrocles  has 
inspired  love  in  both  Basilius  and  Gyneceia, — Basilius  deeming  him  a  woman, 
Gyneceia  recognizing  a  man  through  his  disguise.  He  makes  an  appointment 
with  each  to  meet  them  in  a  certain  cave  at  midnight,  foreseeing  that  they  will 


138  OUR  MONTHLY  GOSSIP. 

not  recognize  each  other  in  the  darkness.  Thus  the  last  and  most  mysterious 
line  of  the  prophecy  is  fulfilled.  Pyrocles,  in  his  true  character,  visits  the  chamber 
of  Philoclea  and  urges  her  to  fly  with  him.  But  after  much  argument  both  faint 
and  fall  asleep.  Next  morning  the  utmost  confusion  reigns  in  Arcadia,  Pyrocles 
is  discovered  in  Philoclea's  chamber,  the  fugitive  Musidorus  and  Pamela  are 
brought  back  as  captives  by  a  band  of  soldiers,  and  Basilius  is  found  in  a  death 
like  slumber  as  the  result  of  a  love-potion  given  him  by  Gyneceia,  who,  of  course, 
mistook  him  for  Pyrocles.  Euarchus,  King  of  Macedon,  is  appointed  to  preside 
at  the  trials  of  Gyneceia  and  the  princes.  As  he  is  about  to  pronounce  sentence, 
Basilius  awakes,  everything  is  explained  and  forgiven,  the  oracle  is  shown  to 
have  been  fulfilled  without  serious  injury  to  any  one,  and  the  lovers  are  united. 

"  What  is  the  legend  of  Asmund  and  Aswit?"  J.  M.  G. 

Asmund  and  Aswit  were  two  heroes  of  Scandinavian  folk-lore.  They  swore 
eternal  friendship,  and  when  one  died  the  other  was  to  accompany  him  in  the 
grave.  Aswit  was  slain  in  battle,  and  the  dreadful  compact  was  carried  out  by 
Asmund.  Dead  and  living  were  interred  together  in  a  cavern,  with  their  arms 
and  their  horses,  and  a  large  stone  was  rolled  over  the  opening.  A  century 
passed  away,  and  the  Swedes  under  Eric  invaded  the  country.  Inspired  by  the 
hope  of  plunder,  they  rolled  the  stone  away  from  the  sepulchre.  Great  was  their 
astonishment  to  hear  within  horrid  cries,  the  clash  of  swords,  and  the  clang  of 
armor.  A  few  moments  after,  out  rushed  the  hero  Asmund,  his  sword  drawn, 
his  armor  half  torn  from  his  body,  his  white  face  smeared  with  blood.  In  a  wild 
string  of  verses  he  poured  forth  the  story  of  his  hundred  years'  conflict  within 
the  tomb.  No  sooner,  he  declared,  had  the  sepulchre  been  closed,  than  the  corpse 
of  Aswit  rose  from  the  ground,  inspired  by  some  ravenous  ghoul,  tore  to  pieces 
and  devoured  the  horses  that  had  been  buried  with  him,  and  then  attacked  the 
living  champion.  Asmund  had  defended  himself  manfully,  and  for  a  whole 
century  had  waged  a  preternatural  combat  which  had  only  just  ended  in  his 
triumph  over  Aswit,  or  rather  over  the  demon  who  tenanted  his  body.  Having 
chanted  these  triumphant  verses,  the  mamgled  conqueror  fell  down  dead  before 
them. 

EDITOR  GOSSIP, — Whence  the  origin  of  "  gall"  as  applied  to  individuals 
who  are  impudent,  or  "  cheeky"  ?  for  instance,  You  have  lots  of  gall  to  make 
such  a  statement  or  request  ? 

Yours  truly, 

C.  L.  PULLEN. 

Possibly  from  "  Hamlet :" 

For  though  I  am  pigeon-livered  and  lack  gall. 

How  critics  differ  1  No  fewer  than  five  correspondents  have  humorously  sug 
gested  that  "  Ding-Dong,"  in  our  No-Name  number,  was  written  by  the  "  Sweet 
Singer  of  Michigan."  Another  insists  that  it  must  have  been  Edmund  Lear  in  one 
of  his  most  nonsensical  moods.  A  well-known  poet,  on  the  other  hand,  calls  it  the 
best  piece  of  poetry  he  has  seen  for  many  years,  and  some  of  the  newspapers  have 
praised  it  highly,  while  others  have  damned  it  unsparingly.  The  poem  is  in  truth 
by  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  unique  of  American  writers,  Henry  D.  Thoreau, 
and  bears  unmistakable  marks  of  his  style. 


OUR   MONTHLY  GOSSIP.  139 

The  full  list  of  authors  in  our  No-Name  number  is  as  follows : 

The  Old  Adam H.  H.  Boyesen. 

From  Bacon  to  Beethoven         .        .  Sidney  Lanier. 

Ding- Dong Henry  D.  Thoreau. 

Mr.  Sonnenschein's  Inheritance        .  Henry  Harland  (Sidney  Luska). 

The  House  of  Hate  ....  Helen  Gray  Cone. 

Among  my  Weeds     ....  Joaquin  Miller. 

A  Little  Boy's  Talk  ....  Mrs.  S.  M.  B.  Piatt. 

The  Portrait  and  the  Ghost       .        .  8.  Weir  Mitchell. 

Nebuchadnezzar's  Wife     .        .        .  Edgar  Fawcett. 

Old  Delaware    .  Eebecca  Harding  Davis. 

In  vrhat  romance  does  the  philosopher  Arbaces  appear  ?    W.  M.  G. 

In  Bulwer's  "  Last  Days  of  Pompeii."  He  is  an  Egyptian  magician,  a  melo 
dramatic  compound  of  great  wickedness  with  great  moral  and  intellectual  powers, 
who  lives  in  barbaric  splendor  and  sensuality. 

Fearless  of  all  restraints  of  conscience,  holding,  indeed,  that  as  man  had  im 
posed  those  checks  on  the  vulgar  herd,  so  man  could  by  superior  wisdom  raise 
himself  above  them,  he  establishes  a  dominion  over  the  minds  and  imaginations 
of  others  by  his  knowledge  of  the  secret  mysteries  of  Isis,  whose  priests  are  under 
his  control  and  made  the  instruments  of  his  crimes.  "  His  fame  and  his  discov 
eries,"  says  Bulwer,  "were  known  to  all  the  cultivators  of  magic ;  they  even  sur 
vived  himself;  but  it  was  not  by  his  real  and  worldly  name  that  he  was  honored 
by  the  sorcerer  and  the  sage.  He  received  from  their  homage  a  more  mystic  ap 
pellation,  and  was  long  remembered  in  Magna  Graecia  and  the  Eastern  plains  by 
the  name  of  '  Hermes,  the  Lord  of  the  Flaming  Belt.'  His  subtle  speculations 
and  boasted  attributes  of  wisdom,  recorded  in  various  volumes,  were  among  those 
tokens  of  '  the  curious  arts'  which  the  Christian  converts  most  joyfully  yet  most 
fearfully  burnt  at  Ephesus,  depriving  posterity  of  the  proofs  of  the  cunning  of 
the  fiend." 

Who  was  the  Maid  of  Kars?    S.  M.  M. 

Your  question  probably  refers  to  "  Ayesha,  the  Maid  of  Kars,"  the  heroine 
of  an  Oriental  romance  by  James  Morier  (1834). 

Lord  Osmond,  a  young  Englishman,  travelling  through  the  remote  town  of 
Kars,  sees  and  falls  in  love  with  Ayesha,  the  reputed  daughter  of  a  rich  old  Turk. 
His  audacity  in  attempting  to  gain  the  affections  of  the  maiden  brings  down  upon 
him  the  indignation  of  the  Pacha.  He  is  imprisoned,  and  escapes  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  Khurdish  freebooter,  who  conducts  him  to  the  castle  of  his 
captain,  Cara  Bey,  a  noted  robber  chief.  This  gentleman,  learning  the  nature  of 
the  offence  that  had  consigned  Osmond  to  the  pacha's  dungeon,  is  himself  fired 
with  the  reported  charms  of  Ayesha,  shuts  the  Englishman  up  in  one  of  his  oubli 
ettes,  makes  a  midnight  foray  upon  Kars,  and  succeeds  in  carrying  off  the  damsel. 
Osmond,  meanwhile,  forms  a  friendship  in  his  prison  with  a  young  Russian  be 
longing  to  a  regiment  stationed  on  the  neighboring  frontier ;  and  they  contrive 
to  open  a  communication  with  the  Eussian  commander,  which  ends  in  his  being 
admitted  into  Cara  Bey's  castle.  The  entire  gang  is  seized,  and  the  captives  are 
all  liberated.  In  conclusion,  Ayesha  turns  out  to  be  the  daughter  of  Sir  Edward 
Wortley,  is  converted  to  Christianity,  and  is  happily  married  to  Lord  Osmond. 


140  OUR   MONTHLY  GOSSIP. 

Who  was  Vittoria  Accoramboni  ?    H.  E.  A. 

A  lady  famous  in  Italian  annals  for  her  beauty  and  her  tragic  history,  also 
memorable  in  literature  as  the  heroine  of  Webster's  tragedy  "  The  White  Devil" 
and  of  Tieck's  romance  bearing  her  name.  Briefly  told,  the  facts  of  her  life  are 
as  follows.  Being  forced  by  her  father  into  a  marriage  with  Francesco  Peretti,  in 
spite  of  her  preference  for  Paolo  Giordano  Orsini,  the  Duke  of  Bracciano  (who 
was  currently  believed  to  have  murdered  his  wife  Isabella),  her  husband  was  in 
1581  found  mysteriously  slain.  She  herself  fled  to  the  house  of  the  duke,  and 
not  all  the  opposition  of  Pope  Gregory  XIII.,  who  had  her  confined  for  a  year  in 
Fort  St.  Angelo,  could  prevent  her  marriage  to  him.  Soon  after  the  duke  died, 
leaving  the  bulk  of  his  fortune  to  the  widow.  This  so  angered  Ludovico  Orsini, 
a  relative,  that  he  had  Vittoria  put  to  death  in  her  palace  at  Padua,  December  22, 
1585. 


R.  J.  H.  asks  whether  Clavijo,  the  hero  of  Goethe's  drama  of  that  name,  was 
a  real  character. 

Don  Jose"  Clavijo  y  Faxardo  (1730-1806)  was  a  Spanish  journalist  and  gov 
ernment  official  in  Madrid.  In  1764,  under  promise  of  marriage,  be  betrayed  a 
younger  sister  of  Beaumarchais,  living  in  that  town  as  a  milliner.  Beaumarchais 
at  once  left  Paris  for  Madrid,  appeared  at  Clavijo's  house,  and  challenged  him  to 
a  duel.  The  cowardly  seducer  preferred  to  renew  his  promise  and  to  give  Beau 
marchais  a  written  confession  that  he  had  been  guilty,  "  without  pretext  and  with 
out  excuse,  of  breaking  his  solemn  word  of  honor."  But  just  as  Beaumarchais 
thought  that  everything  had  been  arranged,  he  found  that  Clavijo  was  treacher 
ously  seeking  to  throw  him  into  prison.  Clavijo  had  some  influence  at  court, 
Beaumarchais  was  friendless  and  a  stranger.  Even  the  French  ambassador 
counselled  him  to  fly ;  but  the  resolute  champion  of  justice  remained  at  his  post, 
and  at  last  fought  his  way  into  the  very  presence  of  the  king.  His  own  eloquence 
did  the  rest,  and  Clavijo  was  forthwith  deprived  of  his  place  in  the  public  service. 
In  1768  Beaumarchais  founded  upon  these  incidents  his  drama  of  "  Eugenie ;"  in 
1772  he  published  the  full  details  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  which  acquired  an  extraor 
dinary  popularity.  In  1774  the  story  was  utilized  in  Goethe's  drama  of  "  Clavijo," 
in  which  the  real  names  of  some  of  the  parties  were  given,  though  the  incidents 
were  slightly  altered.  In  1785  Marsollier  produced  a  drama  on  the  same  subject, 
"  Norac  and  Javolci"  (anagrams  of  Caron  and  Clavijo),  which  was  acted  at  Lyons 
in  the  presence  of  Beaumarchais.  And  during  all  this  time,  it  must  be  remem 
bered,  the  unheroic  hero  of  these  adventures  was  alive,  and  conscious  of  the 
unpleasant  notoriety  he  had  gained. 

"What  is  the  Felibrige?"  asks  0.  T.  Jones. 

Felibrige  is  the  name  assumed  by  a  band  of  young  Provengal  poets,  Eou- 
maniho,  Mistral,  Aubanel,  and  others,  who  used  to  meet  together,  now  here,  now 
there,  but  oftenest  at  Avignon,  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  one  another  in 
their  work.  At  a  reunion  held  May  21,  1854,  at  Font  Segugno,  the  name  Feli 
brige  was  adopted,  the  members  of  the  league  assuming  the  title  of  Felibre.  It 
is  said  that  on  this  occasion  an  old,  wrinkled  woman  had  appeared,  and,  as  she 
looked  upon  the  band,  exclaimed  thrice,  "  Felibre !  Felibre !  Felibre !"  and  then 
vanished.  "  Let  us  call  ourselves  Felibres,"  cried  Mistral ;  and  so  the  name 
began ;  but  its  meaning  is  very  doubtful. 


BOOK-TALK. 


THE  ONE  HUNDRED   PRIZE  QUESTIONS. 

DEAR  GOSSIP,  —  As  you  know  full  well,  much  interest  and  curiosity  has  been 
awakened  by  your  prize  questions.  Many  who  are  debarred  from  being  com 
petitors  by  lack  of  leisure,  insufficient  confidence  in  their  own  knowledge  and 
patience,  and  various  other  causes,  are  yet  eager  spectators  of  the  coming  fray,  and 
would  be  glad  to  see  the  answers  to  the  brain-racking  questions.  I  doubt  not, 
also,  that  many  a  disappointed  and  forlorn  competitor  would  be  comforted  by 
seeing  just  wherein  he  failed.  Could  you  not  publish  the  answers  of  the  suc 
cessful  candidate,  as  well  as  his  name  and  pseudonyme? 

I  am  sure  that  most  of  your  many  readers  would  gratefully  appreciate  your 
doing  so,  and  it  would  be  a  means  of  instruction  to  hundreds  of  non-competitors. 

JAMES  VANCE  ANSON. 

The  four  or  five  best  answers  to  every  question  that  admits  of  a  difference 
in  the  quality  of  the  answers  will  be  published  in  the  Monthly  Gossip  of  L/ip- 
pincott's  Magazine  for  August,  September,  and  October.  The  editors  of  American 
Notes  and  Queries  (Philadelphia)  also  announce  that  they  purpose  to  publish  an 
swers  of  their  own  to  all  the  queries,  as  soon  as  the  competition  is  over,  —  i.e., 
beginning  with  their  number  for  June  23,  1888. 


BOOK-TALK. 


rpO  WARDS  the  close  of  his  long  life  Richard  Baxter,  the  sternest  of  Calvinists, 
-L  and  the  author  of  numerous  depressing  works  upon  theology,  wrote  as  fol 
lows  :  "  I  now  see  more  good  and  more  evil  in  all  men  than  heretofore  I  did.  I 
see  that  good  men  are  not  so  good  as  I  once  thought  they  were,  and  I  find  that 
few  are  so  bad  as  either  malicious  enemies  or  censorious  separating  professors  do 
imagine."  "  The  longer  we  live,  the  more  we  find  we  are  like  other  persons," 
says  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  in  a  recent  essay.  And  George  Sand,  in  her 
preface  to  "Andre","  quotes  approvingly  the  Italian  proverb,  Tutto  ilmondo  efatto 
come  la  nostra  famiglia.  ("  All  the  world  is  made  like  our  own  family.")  These 
opinions  are  significant.  It  is  natural  for  men  to  believe  in  Ormuzd  and  Ahri- 
man,  in  heroes  and  villains,  in  geniuses  and  dunces,  to  paint  black  very  black 
and  white  very  white,  to  have  sharp  division  between  right  and  wrong,  to  give 
intense  worship  to  the  things  they  believe  to  be  worshipful,  and  intense  hatred 
to  those  that  are  hateful.  It  is  natural  also  for  men  to  range  themselves  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  to  surrender  the  left  to  those  who  differ  from  them 
in  creed,  in  temperament,  in  morals,  in  conventions,  in  hereditary  training,  in 
opinions.  Men  and  races  commence  by  believing  themselves  the  chosen  people, 
their  gods  the  only  gods,  their  prophets  the  true  prophets,  their  warriors  the 
bravest  and  most  glorious.  Outside  of  the  little  radius  of  land  that  they  occupy 
is  terra  incognita,  inhabited  only  by  barbarians  and  Philistines.  Two  cen 
turies,  a  century  ago,  how  strange  and  narrow  were  the  views  that  European 


142  BOOK-TALK. 

nations  held  of  their  neighbors !  John  Bull  and  Johnny  Crapaud  despised  and 
maligned  each  other.  It  was  only  a  short  time  ago  that  the  French  discovered 
that  a  German  could  have  esprit;  only  a  generation  or  so  back  that  the  English 
learned  they  could  read  an  American  book ;  only  in  our  time  that  Europe  has 
been  surprised  to  discover  a  great  Eussian  literature. 

As  with  nations,  so  with  individuals.  Most  men — all  very  young  men,  cer 
tainly — in  their  inner  hearts  believe  what  the  Duchesse  de  la  Ferte"  openly  avowed 
to  Madame  de  Stae'l :  "  It  is  strange,  but  I  find  nobody  except  myself  always  in 
the  right."  It  is  natural  for  us  to  believe  that  we  have  been  born  into  the  truth, 
that  we  have  inherited  infallibility,  that  the  feelings  we  imbibed  with  our  mother's 
milk  represent  eternal  verities,  that  our  instincts  and  hereditary  tendencies  came 
to  us  by  special  favor  of  the  Deity.  We  thank  God  we  were  not  born  Jews  or 
Mussulmans,  or  what  not,  when  if  we  had  been  so  born  we  should  have  thanked 
God  for  it  with  the  same  fervency.  We  have  a  natural  contempt  for  foreigners, 
for  men  of  alien  tones  of  thought.  The  man  of  action  looks  down  upon  the  man 
of  thought,  who  returns  the  other's  disdain.  The  poet  despises  the  mathematician, 
and  so  on.  We  naturally  hate  what  we  cannot  understand.  Indeed,  that  is  the 
true  definition  of  hatred, — misunderstanding.  If  we  really  understood  our  enemy 
we  could  never  hate  him, — he  would  cease  to  be  our  enemy.  There  is  nothing  we 
resent  so  much  as  being  misunderstood.  There  is  no  person  so  offensive  as  the 
man  who  deems  that  he  can  take  our  measure  as  we  stand,  unless,  indeed,  it  be 
the  woman  who  has  the  same  conceit  of  herself  and  who  is  continually  stroking 
our  fur  the  wrong  way  to  show  how  thoroughly  she  understands  us.  Yet  the 
misjudgments  we  object  to  we  are  continually  visiting  upon  our  neighbor.  Haw 
thorne  once  purposed  writing  a  tale  to  show  how  we  are  all  wronged  and  wrongers, 
avenging  one  another.  It  is  a  pity  he  did  not  carry  his  purpose  into  execution. 

All  men  are  better  than  they  appear  on  the  surface.  The  world  has  been 
too  much  with  them.  The  divine  soul  finds  itself  choked  and  stifled  by  the  acci 
dents  of  temperament  and  environment ;  it  is  disheartened  by  the  multitudinous 
contradictions  in  this  paradoxical  world ;  the  brain  is  stupid  and  muddled  and 
fails  to  recognize  the  right;  the  flesh  is  weak:  nevertheless  the  divine  soul 
dwells  latent  below  the  surface,  and  may  flare  out  at  any  moment  in  some  sudden 
and  unlooked-for  manner. 

Each  idler  I  meet  in  square  or  in  street 

Hath  within  him  what  all  that's  without  him  belies, — 

The  miraculous  infinite  heart  of  man, 
With  its  countless  capabilities ! 

******* 

And  the  fool  that  last  year,  at  her  Majesty's  ball, 

Sickened  me  so  with  his  simper  of  pride, 
Is  the  hero  now  heard  of,  the  first  on  the  wall, 

With  the  bayonet-wound  in  his  side. 

Great  emergencies  call  forth  the  great  soul.  War  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  turns 
village  drunkards  and  pettifogging  lawyers  into  generals  and  statesmen.  Love 
transforms  Cymon  from  a  brute  into  a  man.  Necessity  makes  Shakespeare  a 
dramatist ;  accident  reveals  to  Scott  his  true  powers.  The  most  commonplace 


BOOK-TALK.  143 

men  and  women  have  passed  through  the  fool's  paradise  of  love,  when  they  were 
divine  beings  worshipping  divinity,  and  in  that  fool's  paradise  they  for  a  brief 
moment  found  their  true  selves,  saw  deep  into  the  soul  of  their  consort  That 
flitting  dream  was  in  truth  an  awakening,  the  brief  opening  of  the  spiritual 
eye.  When  the  world  of  facts  has  passed  away,  our  dreams  may  remain.  The 
man  of  common  sense  asks  for  realities,  the  poet  knows  that  only  illusions  are 
true. 

Look  you,  the  man  whom  you  hate, — are  there  not  women  who  worship  him, 
children  who  look  up  to  him  ?  Who  sees  the  true  man, — you  who  hate  him,  or 
they  who  love  him  ?  Love  is  a  divine  delight,  it  reaches  out  over  and  around  its 
object  into  the  illimitable,  it  is  a  part  of  the  Over-Soul,  of  the  Infinite,  of  God. 
Hatred  is  painful,  it  strains  and  racks  the  body,  it  blinds  the  vision,  it  makes 
man  conscious  of  his  mortal  limitations.  Love  sees  the  virtues  that  are  of  the 
soul,  hatred  only  the  diseases  of  the  skin.  "  All  men  have  their  faults,  and 
stealing  was  Bill's,"  said  a  weeping  widow  over  the  corpse  of  a  desperado,  shot 
in  attempted  burglary.  And  grotesque,  ludicrous  as  the  expression  may  seem, 
she  was  right.  She  knew  that  not  in  the  robber,  the  law-breaker,  the  outcast, 
did  the  real  man  shine  forth,  but  in  those  rarer  moods  of  kindliness  and  gen 
erosity  when  he  was  the  true  friend  and  husband.  Perhaps  when  two  enemies, 
who  have  refused  to  see  any  good  in  each  other  on  this  earth,  meet  hereafter  in 
another  world  free  from  the  muddy  vesture  of  decay  which  clogs  their  vision 
here,  the  first  thought  of  each  will  be,  "  Is  this  the  beautiful  soul  that  I  maligned 
and  hated?" 

Most  of  us  feel  like  good  fellows  wronged.  We  know  that  we  should  have 
done  better  had  not  the  world  arrayed  itself  against  us.  That  is  why  books 
like  "The  New  Heloise,"  "The  Robbers,"  "Werther,"  "R6n6,"  "  Obermann," 
"Childe  Harold,"  "  Les  Mise'rables," — wild  protests  against  the  whole  scheme  of 
society, — have  so  shaken  the  world  and  still  find  young  souls  to  fire  and  perturb  ; 
why  all  the  various  romances  of  crime,  from  "  Jean  Sbogar"  to  "  The  Outcasts  of 
Poker  Flat," — laying  bare  the  native  goodness  below  the  criminal  exterior, — 
have  won  perennial  popularity ;  why  the  right  of  the  homely  heroine  to  love 
and  be  loved  as  emphasized  in  "  Jane  Eyre"  electrified  all  England  and  America ; 
why  the  neglected  heroines  of  Ouida  and  the  hoydens  of  Rhoda  Broughton  are 
favorites  with  young  women ;  why  Xavier  de  Maistre's  touching  "  Leper  of  Aosta" 
was  followed  by  an  epidemic  of  stories  whose  heroes  were  pariahs  and  outcasts 
through  disease  or  deformity ;  why  the  persecuted  heroine,  the  maligned  hero,  are 
still  favorite  figures  on  the  stage  and  in  the  penny-dreadfuls. 

Wisely  and  tenderly  has  George  Eliot  written,  "It  is  with  men  as  with 
trees :  if  you  lop  off  their  finest  branches,  into  which  they  were  pouring  their 
young  life-juice,  the  wounds  will  be  healed  over  by  some  rough  boss,  some  odd 
excrescence,  and  what  might  have  been  a  grand  tree  expanding  into  liberal  shade 
is  but  a  whimsical  misshapen  trunk.  Many  an  irritating  fault,  many  an  unlovely 
oddity,  has  come  of  a  hard  sorrow,  which  has  crushed  and  maimed  the  nature 
just  when  it  was  expanding  into  plenteous  beauty ;  and  the  trivial,  erring  life 
which  we  visit  with  our  harsh  blame  may  be  but  as  the  unsteady  motion  of  a 
man  whose  best  limb  is  withered."  The  world  judges  only  results,  it  recks  not 
of  hidden  causes.  The  archangel  ruined  becomes  to  the  popular  imagination  a 
devil  with  horns  and  a  tail. 


144  BOOK-TALK. 

Nor  should  we  be  too  hasty  in  blaming  the  world.  Human  nature  is  limited : 
if  it  cannot  without  danger  overleap  its  limitations,  then  it  were  wise  to  work  out 
its  salvation  within  them.  It  is  better  to  be  deep  as  a  lake  than  broad  as  a  marsh. 
Hatred  is  wrong,  yet  if  hatred  for  things  without  our  line  of  vision  develop  or 
strengthen  love  for  those  that  are  in  sight 

(For  love  and  hate,  and  faith  and  nnfaith,  each 
Bind  great  to  lesser  souls  in  sympathy), 

then  hatred  is  temporarily  right, — right  relatively,  though  not  absolutely.  Speak 
ing  in  the  abstract,  tolerance  is  better  than  intolerance ;  but  the  tolerance  of  in 
difference  is  a  less  potent  instrument  for  good  than  the  intolerance  of  enthusiasm. 
Patriotism  is  mean  and  narrow  and  exclusive,  a  bar  to  the  universal  brother 
hood  which  the  prophet  looks  forward  to ;  yet  in  our  present  semi-barbaric  state 
patriotism  is  a  virtue  that  calls  out  our  noblest  qualities,  which  without  this 
stimulus  would  lie  latent  and  unrecognized.  If,  in  the  hurry  of  existence,  we 
must  needs  make  snap  judgments  and  harsh  criticisms  or  none  at  all,  then  for  the 
moment  let  us  content  ourselves  with  such  judgments  and  such  criticisms. 


But  let  us  beware  of  thinking  that  here  is  the  whole  truth.  While  temporizing 
for  the  sake  of  the  present,  let  us  preserve  intact  our  larger  hope  for  the  future. 
It  may  indeed  seem  better  to  be  deep  as  a  lake  than  broad  as  a  marsh.  Yet  do 
not  let  us  despair  of  the  marsh.  Wait  until  the  kindly  waters  have  penetrated 
further  and  widened  their  circuit.  Then  the  marsh  will  give  place  to  fertile 
plains  ;  flowers  will  bourgeon  and  plenteous  harvests  ripen  where  before  was  only 
an  empty  waste  of  water.  In  the  great  future  that  the  centuries  will  bring  to 
men,  they  may  look  back  with  tender  pity  upon  the  narrowness  and  pettiness 
which  the  present  cannot  escape  from ;  they  may  recognize  that  it  was  necessary 
for  the  best  interests  of  the  race  to  go  through  the  narrow  and  petty  period. 

And  now  whence  the  object  of  these  reflections,  and  what  is  their  tendency  ? 
Merely  that  the  Reviewer  had  certain  books  on  his  table  which  he  had  been 
reserving  in  order  the  more  effectually  to  demolish  them.  For  months  past  he 
has  been  whetting  his  teeth  and  sharpening  his  knife,  making  ready  to  plunge 
them  into  the  tender,  quivering  flesh.  But  he  has  determined  to  refrain.  Even 
the  greatest  literary  criminals  are  his  fellows,  his  equals, — mayhap  his  superiors. 
"  Alas  1"  says  Heine,  "  one  ought  really  to  write  against  no  one  in  this  world. 
We  are  all  of  us  sick  and  suffering  enough  in  this  great  Lazaretto,  and  many  a 
piece  of  polemical  reading  involuntarily  reminds  me  of  a  revolting  quarrel  in  a 
little  hospital  at  Cracow,  where  I  was  an  accidental  spectator,  and  where  it  was 
terrible  to  hear  the  sick  mocking  and  reviling  each  other's  infirmities,  how 
emaciated  consumptives  ridiculed  those  who  were  bloated  with  dropsy,  how  one 
laughed  at  the  cancer  in  the  nose  of  another,  and  he  again  jeered  the  locked-jaw 
and  distorted  eyes  of  his  neighbors,  until  finally  those  who  were  mad  with  fever 
sprang  naked  from  bed,  and  tore  the  coverings  and  sheets  from  the  maimed 
bodies  around,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  but  revolting  misery  and  mu 
tilation." 


CURRENT  NOTES.  145 


OTJEEENT  NOTES. 


T\ETBIMENTAL  food  which,  by  reason  of  their  superior  strength,  may  not 
Ax  seriously  affect  the  health  of  adults,  as  is  well  known,  frequently  acts  upon 
the  more  delicate  organs  of  the  child  to  produce  disorders  of  the  most  serious 
character.  The  amount  of  laudanum  or  other  poison  that  would  be  harmless 
to  an  adult  will  cause  the  death  of  an  infant.  This  great  difference  between 
the  vitality  of  adults  and  children  is  too  generally  overlooked  in  the  prepara 
tion  of  food.  Because  no  harm  immediately  perceptible  comes  to  the  adult 
by  the  use  of  an  article  of  food,  no  thought  is  given  to  the  effect  it  may  have 
upon  the  more  delicate  organs  of  inferior  age. 

Children  diet  largely  upon  cake  and  bread,  and  these  articles,  if  light,  sweet, 
and  composed  of  materials  that  are  free  from  injurious  substances,  are  easily  di 
gested,  nutritious,  and  wholesome.  There  is  a  danger  to  our  children,  however, 
lurking  in  their  bread  and  cake  which  is  too  often  lost  sight  of.  These  articles 
are  now  leavened  largely  by  baking  powders,  and  when  pure  and  wholesome  baking 
powders  are  used  they  make  not  only  the  most  palatable  food,  but  one  much  more 
wholesome  and  nutritious  than  if  leavened  with  yeast  or  cream  of  tartar  and 
soda.  The  trouble  arises  from  the  fact,  as  shown  by  recent  scientific  tests  by  the 
government  chemists  and  by  official  boards  of  health,  that  all  these  baking  pow 
ders,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  Royal,  contain  either  lime,  alum,  phosphates, 
or  acids  of  an  injurious  character.  Therefore  when  bread  or  cake  is  made  with 
the  use  of  these  cheap  baking  powders  these  ingredients  (which  are  present 
through  the  efforts  of  the  manufacturers  to  produce  a  cheaper  article)  pass  into 
the  food  and  are  taken  into  the  delicate  organs  of  childhood,  where  they  are  the 
source  of  very  much  of  the  disease  with  which  our  children  are  afflicted. 

Persons  who  have  not  strong  constitutions,  growing  girls,  young  children, 
and  nursing  mothers  are  particularly  liable  to  the  evil  effects  produced  by  the 
introduction  of  the  adulterants  named  as  found  in  the  cheap  baking  powders. 
Heartburn  and  the  prevalent  forms  of  indigestion  are  often  solely  traceable  to 
the  action  of  alum  on  the  delicate  coats  of  the  stomach.  Prof.  Willard  Parker, 
U.  S.  Surgeon-General  Hammond,  Prof.  Alonzo  Clark,  most  eminent  physicians 
of  New  York,  with  scores  of  others,  have  written  and  spoken  most  earnestly  of 
the  evils  arising  from  partaking  of  such  food.  There  should  be  as  much  care  in 
the  choice  of  a  baking  powder  as  in  obtaining  pure  milk  or  in  having  a  pre 
scription  compounded  from  pure  drugs  and  not  from  poisons. 

The  matter  is  one  of  the  greatest  importance,  particularly  to  the  rising  gen 
eration,  and  while  our  conservative  law-makers  are  making  up  their  minds  as  to 
the  proper  legislation  to  stop  the  sale  of  the  poisonous  compounds,  mothers  will 
do  well  to  study  it  carefully.  The  housekeeper  will  experience  no  inconvenience 
in  discarding  the  use  of  the  adulterated  baking  .powder,  if  she  has  been  using  it, 
as  the  Eoyal  Baking  Powder,  upon  the  purity  and  wholesomeness  of  which  all 
the  government  chemists  agree,  is  equally  accessible ;  but  she  will  need  to  exer 
cise  a  close  watch  upon  her  packages  from  the  grocer  in  order  to  prevent  the  in 
ferior  brands  from  creeping  into  her  kitchen  unawares. 

In  what  we  have  said  in  reference  to  the  subject  of  baking  powder  there  is 
VOL.  XLIL— 10 


146  CURRENT  NOTES. 

no  intention  to  disparage  the  work  or  the  products  of  those  many  manufacturers 
in  other  lines  of  food  products  who,  with  conscientiousness  and  liberality,  are 
serving  the  public  with  pure  and  wholesome  articles  of  diet. 

THE  origin  of  the  phrase  "  the  bloody  shirt"  is  in  a  Corsican  custom,  now 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  obsolete.  In  the  days  of  the  fierce  vendette — the  feuds  which 
divided  Corsican  family  from  family — bloodshed  was  a  common  occurrence.  Be 
fore  the  burial  of  a  murdered  man  the  gridata  was  celebrated.  This  word,  which 
literally  means  a  crying  aloud,  may  be  translated  "  a  wake."  The  body  of  the 
victim  was  laid  upon  a  plank ;  his  useless  fire-arms  were  placed  near  his  hand, 
and  his  blood-stained  shirt  was  hung  above  his  head.  Around  the  rude  bier  sat 
a  circle  of  women,  wrapped  in  their  black  mantles,  who  rocked  themselves  to  and 
fro  with  strange  wailings.  The  men,  relatives  and  friends  of  the  murdered  man, 
fully  armed,  stood  around  the  room,  mad  with  thirst  for  revenge.  Then  one  of 
the  women — the  wife  or  mother  or  sister  of  the  dead  man — with  a  sharp  scream 
would  snatch  the  bloody  shirt,  and,  waving  it  aloft,  begin  the  vocero, — the  lamen 
tation.  This  rhythmic  discourse  was  made  up  of  alternate  expressions  of  love  for 
the  dead  and  hatred  of  his  enemies ;  and  its  startling  images  and  tremendous 
curses  were  echoed  in  the  faces  and  mutterings  of  the  armed  mourners.  It  was 
by  a  not  unnatural  transition  that  the  phrase  "  bloody  shirt"  became  applied  to 
utterances  concerning  the  Southern  Rebellion. 

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Newport  Aquarelle,"  "  Atalanta  in  the  South,"  and  other  very  popular  novels. 
"  Mammon"  has  a  stirring  and  original  plot.  It  opens  with  a  remarkably  strong 
scene  in  a  Western  mine, — the  commission  of  an  extraordinary  crime  to  bear 
the  stock  thereof, — which  is  said  to  be  founded  upon  fact.  The  scene  is  then 
shifted  to  New  York,  where  clever  satires  are  presented  of  the  shoddy  and 
nouveau-riche  aristocracy.  Maud  Howe,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  a  daughter  of 
Mrs.'  Julia  Ward  Howe. 

NOVEL-READERS  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  Miss  Grace  King,  author  of  "  Mon 
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work  on  a  novel,  her  first, — which  will  appear  complete  in  an  early  number  of 
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has  made  the  task  of  his  life,  devoting  to  the  work  not  only  his  rare  scholarship,  but  also  a  per 
sistence  of  industry  which  is  little  less  than  astonishing." — New  York  Evening  Pott. 

"  It  is  a  book  of  rare  merit,  and  embodies  a  vast  amount  of  classic  matter  that  honors  the 
English  language.  The  large  number  of  the  authors  and  the  variety  of  the  subjects  give  it  the 
character  of  a  library  in  itself.  The  diversity,  style,  and  classical  finish  of  most  of  the  matter, 
next  to  the  food  for  the  mind,  moulds  almost  imperceptibly  the  channels  of  thought  of  the  reader, 
and  creates  a  love  for  the  higher  realms  of  literature. — Pittsburgh  Evening  Telegraph. 

S&~  For  sale  by  Booksellers  generally,  or  will  be  sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  the 
price  by 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  Publishers, 

7 IS  and  717  Market  Street,  Philadelphia. 

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LIPPINCOTTS  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


SHOPPING  IN  SEDAN  CHAIRS  IN  THE  LAST  CENTURY. 

Queen  Charlotte's  Visit  to  Pears',  for  Soap  for  her  Complexion,  a  Hundred  Years  Ago. 

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^•"^        f,      S- -^rA      fi£J        f"       ^)     >/  />  *— >  *~/^ 


1»MII.AI>EI«I'III.V,    JUI.Y,    1888. 


®T-»HIS  BULLETIN  contains  A  LIST  of  our  NEW  PUBLICATIONS,  with  brief 
notices  of  their  contents,  etc.,  together  with  an  announcement  of  WORKS 
now  IN  PRESS  to  be  issued  shortly. 

Our  Publications  are  for  Sale  by  Booksellers  generally,  or  if  not  obtainable  of 
them,  will  be  sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  upon  receipt  of  price. 


JUST   ISSUED. 
Animal  Life  of  the  Sea-Shore. 

By  ANGELO  HEILPRIN,  Professor  of  Invertebrate  Paleontology  at  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia  ;  author  of  "  The  Geological  Evidences 
of  Evolution,"  "Town  Geology,"  "The  Lesson  of  the  Philadelphia  Rocks," 
"  The  Geographical  and  Geological  Distribution  of  Animals"  (International 
Scientific  Series),  etc.  Fully  Illustrated.  12mo.  Cloth.  $1.25.  Paper. 
50  cents. 

A  popular  treatise,  interesting  to  sojourners  by  the  sea,  special  attention  being  given 
to  the  New  Jersey  and  Long  Island  coasts. 

Sruetoris  Bayou  and  Miss  Defarge. 

No.  2  of  The  Series  of  American  Novels.  By  JOHN  HABBERTON,  author  of 
"  Helen's  Babies,"  and  FRANCES  HODGSON  BURNETT,  author  of  "  That  Lass  o' 
Lowries."  Complete  in  one  volume.  Square  12mo.  Extra  cloth.  $1.00. 
Paper.  50  cents. 

"  Brueton's  Bayou,"  by  John  Habberton,  the  author  of  "  Helen's  Babies,"  is  a  beau 
tiful  picture  of  Southern  life  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  In  originality  of  motive 
and  in  freshness  of  treatment  it  stands  alone  among  recent  novels. 

"  Miss  Defarge"  needs  no  praise  further  than  that  it  is  from  the  pen  of  Mrs.  Prances 
Hodgson  Burnett.  It  is  a  charming  story,  skilfully  managed,  and  possesses  an  interest 
equal  to  the  author's  most  popular  works. 

The  Deserter  and  From  the  Ranks. 

No.  1  of  The  Series  of  American  Novels.     By  CAPT.  CHARLES  KING,  author  of 

"  The  Colonel's  Daughter,"  "  Marion's  Faith,"  etc.     Square  12mo.     Extra  cloth. 

$1  .00.     Paper.     50  cents. 

"  A  pleasant  addition  to  summer  reading."  —  Boston  Journal. 

"These  novelettes  are  good  examples  of  the  vivacious  and  graceful  style  of  Captain 
King,  a  writer  who  steadily  increases  in  popularity  both  at  home  and  abroad."  —  Philadel 
phia  American. 

"The  plot  and  style  are  excellent."  —  Savannah  News. 

"No  military  novels  of  the  day  rival  those  of  Captain  King  in  precision  and  popu 
larity."  —  Boston  Courier. 

"  The  piazza  and  hammock  haunter  will  be  hard  to  please  who  cannot  find  enjoyment 
in  these  capital  stories."  —  Boston  Advertiser. 

9 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 

m 

The  Merchant  of  Venice. 

VOLUME  VII.  OP   THE   VARIORUM   EDITION   OP   SHAKESPEARE.     Edited  by 
HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS.     Royal  8vo.     Cloth  extra.     Gilt  top.     $4.00. 

"A  large  and  extremely  handsome  volume,  with  every  perfection  of  mechanical 
features,  containing  the  text  of  the  first  folio,  with  notes  that  enable  one  to  study  Shakes 
peare  as  the  Greek  poets  are  studied,  weighing  every  phrase,  every  word,  every  syllable." 
— New  Fork  World. 

"  Among  the  well-nigh  innumerable  editions  of  Shakespeare,  there  is  none  more 
scholarly,  more  exhaustive,  or  in  every  way  satisfactory  than  the  Variorum  Edition, 
edited  by  Horace  Howard  Furness.  So  complete  is  the  treatment  received  in  this  last 
edition,  '  The  Merchant  of  Venice,'  that  it  is  diiScult  to  see  that  anything  more  remains 
to  be  said  concerning  the  play." — Boston  Courier. 

"  The  admirers  of  the  great  bard  will  have  no  criticisms  to  make  upon  the  series.  It 
is  the  best  work  of  a  profound  Shakespearian  scholar,  everywhere  marked  by  honesty, 
and  backed  by  authentic  historical  facts,  and  will  stand  as  an  authority  for  all  the  time  to 
come." — Chicago  Inter -Ocean. 

"  We  have  here  what  Shakespeare  wrote  and  what  his  contemporaries  read,  and  in 
this  sense  we  are  Shakespearians.  No  statement  of  the  extent  and  variety  of  matter  which 
Mr.  Furness  has  collected  from  all  sources,  and  with  an  intelligence  which  no  earlier 
editor  of  Shakespeare  has  evinced,  and  included  in  his  appendix,  would  show  what  and 
how  admirable  it  is — how  just,  how  wise,  how  impartial,  and  how  scholarly." — New  York 
Mail  and  Express. 

"There  certainly  is  no  other  edition  of  Shakespeare  that  throws  so  much  light  on 
these  dramas,  gives  such  an  interesting  view  of  what  has  been  written  about  them,  and 
shows  how  they  have  been  dressed  and  acted." — Albany  Law  Journal. 

Over  the  Divide,  and  Other  Verses. 

By  MARION  MANVILLE.     With  a  Portrait  of  the  Author.     12mo.     Extra  cloth. 
81.50. 

"  Miss  Manville  is  a  facile  writer,  with  the  power  of  expressing  her  varying  moods  in 
easy,  rhythmical  verse,  which  is  almost  always  smooth  and  musical,  and  which  always  con 
tains  a  thought.  'Her  manner  is  direct  and  simple,  and  her  verses  have  the  charm  of 
nature." — Boston  Writer. 

"  Most  excellent  work  in  the  collection,  and  the  book,  as  a  whole,  is  the  superior  of 
many  of  its  kind." — Chicago  Journal. 

"The  poems  are  nearly  all  marked  by  a  graceful  fancy, .an  appreciative  love  of  the 
beautiful  in  nature  and  the  refined  in  man,  and  few  volumes  of  poems  have  appeared  of 
late  years  in  which  musical  facility  of  phrasing  has  been  so  generally  displayed." — Chicago 
Times. 

"Every  one  of  the  poems  in  this  handsome  book  is  a  gem.  The  first,  'Over  the 
Divide,'  is  as  good  as  anything  Bret  Harte  or  Will  Carleton  has  written." — Milwaukee 
Sunday  Telegraph. 

Daphne. 

A  Novel.     By  "  RITA,"  author  of  "  Vivienne,"  "  Like  Dian's  Kiss,"  etc.     No.  86 
of  I/ippincotfs  Series  of  Select  Novels.     Half  cloth.     50  cents.     Paper.     25 
cents. 
"  It  is  a  story  of  lofty  genius  and  passionate  love." — Boston  Glole. 

Too  Curious. 

By  EDWARD  J.  GOODMAN.     16mo.     Half  cloth.     50  cents.     Paper.     25  cents. 
No.  85  of  Lippincott 's  Series  of  Select  Novels. 

"  An  interesting  story  with  an  original  plot,  written  in  a  most  charming  manner. 
It  holds  the  reader  from  the  first  to  the  last  page." — Baltimore  American. 

"The  author  of  'Too  Curious'  has  done  a  real  service,  both  to  readers  and  writers, 
by  proving  that  even  now  a  novel  can  be  produced  which  is  at  once  artistic,  thrilling,  and 
original." — London  Tablet. 

"Powerful  and  fascinating,  it  will  take  its  place  among  the  best  of  novels." — Boston 
Home  Journal. 

10 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOJJ  COMPANY. 


A  Life's  Mistake. 


By  MRS.  H.  LOVETT  CAMERON,  author  of  "  In  a  Grass  Country,"  "  Pure  Gold,' 
"  Vera  Nevill,"  "  Worth  Winning,"  etc.     Half  cloth.     50  cents.     Paper  cover. 
25  cents.     No.  84  of  Lippincott's  Series  of  Select  Novels. 
"  It  will  be  a  mistake  of  your  life  if  you  don't  read  it." — Texas  Siftings. 
"  Mrs.  Cameron  has  a  wide  circle  of  admirers  by  whom  her  works  are  always  welcomed. 
In  this  work  she  appears  at  her  best." — Baltimore  News. 

"  'A  Life's  Mistake'  is  like  an  April  day,  full  of  sunshine  and  tears,  that  end  in  a 
glorious  sunset." — N.  0.  Picayune. 

"  It  is  short,  bright,  and  wholesome,  and  the  heroine  who  tells  her  own  story  does  it 
in  easy,  graceful  language." — Philadelphia  Bulletin. 


Chambers^  Encyclopedia. 


A  Dictionary  of  Universal  Knowledge.     Edited  and  Published  under  the  Auspices 
of  W.  &  R.  CHAMBERS,  Edinburgh,  and  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  Phila 
delphia.     Entirely  Revised  and  Rewritten.     Complete  in  ten  volumes.     To  be 
issued  at  intervals  of  a  few  months.     Volume  I.  now  ready.     Price  per  vol. 
Cloth.    $3.00.    Cloth,  uncut.     $3.00.     Sheep.    $4.00.    Half  morocco.    $4.50. 
"  Practically  a  new  book.     Of  course,  it  does  not  contain  everything  in  the  way  of 
knowledge  now  known  in  the  world,  but  it  has  more  of  that  sort  of  thing  than  ninety  out 
of  every  hundred  people  will  ever  use  ;  and  then  it  is  of  so  practicable  a  character.     You 
seek  and  you  come  quickly  at  the  solution  ;  you  have  not  to  read  page  on  page  of  type  to 
find  what  you  want,  it  is  right  under  your  eyes.     There  is  possibly  no  encyclopaedia  in  the 
English  language  so  good,  so  useful,  and  so  cheap  as  this,  and  young  men  who  wish  to 
advance  themselves  among  men,  or  young  women  keenly  alive  to  the  intellectual  charms 
of  women,  ought  to  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity  to  buy  at  the  beginning  of  the 
publication,  and  go  on,  volume  by  volume,  to  the  end,  thus  not  feeling  the  outlay  of 
money,  and,  as  they  get  them  volume  by  volume,  sit  themselves  down  and  go  over  every 
page,  noting  what  is  thereon.     You  have  no  conception  how  much  you  will  pick  up  in 
that  way." — Providence  Book  Notes. 

"The  publishers  express  the  confidence  that  they  are  offering  to  the  English-speaking 
world  a  really  new  and  greatly  improved  editon  of  a  work  which  has  already  proved  so 
popular.  In  this  expectation  they  do  not  deceive  themselves.  Nothing  but  praise  can  be 
bestowed  upon  the  work,  which  is  of  such  superior  merit  that  it  should  find  a  place  in  every 
library. " — Burlington  Hawkeye. 


Spinoza. 


The  twelfth  volume  of  Philosophical  Classics  for  English  Readers.     By  JOHN 

CAIRD,  Principal  of  Glasgow  University.    With  Portrait.    16mo.    Cloth.    $1.25. 

"  Dr.  Caird's  '  Spinoza'  is  as  fine  a  piece  of  analysis  and  criticism  as  a  devoted  Hegelian 

could  give  us.     He  does  justice  to  all  the  nobleness  of  the  man  and  the  thinker.     He  sees 

an  ethical  purpose  permeating  the  whole  structure  of  a  system  which  begins  by  eliminating 

human  freedom  and  responsibility  and  yet  ends  with  the  love  of  God  so  unselfish  as  to 

demand  no  love  from  God  in  return.    He  sees  in  his  teaching  the  suggestion  and  prophecy 

of  what  modern  philosophy  has  been  able  to  achieve  in  realizing  the  same  idea  as  Spinoza 

had,  but  in  a  better  way.     We  know  of  no  better  or  more  readable  book  on  the  subject 

than  this." — Philadelphia  American. 

Large  Fortunes ;  or,  Christianity  and  the  Labor 

PROBLEM.     By  CHARLES  RICHARDSON.     12mo.     Extra  cloth.     75  cents. 

"  Mr.  Richardson  has  got  hold  of  a  mighty  puzzle  and  has  written  thoughtfully  about 
it.  He  wrestles  manfully  with  the  matter  and  contributes  to  its  literature  a  good  many 
bright  and  fresh  ideas.  We  have  read  his  little  volume  with  pleasure,  and  feel  no  hesita 
tion  in  commending  it  fully  and  without  reserve." — New  York  Herald. 

"As  fair  and  temperate  a  discussion  of  the  labor  problem  as  has  been  lately  produced 
on  that  vexed  subject.  The  style  and  temper  of  the  book  is  admirable  and  kindly,  and 
will  be  thoughtfully  perused  by  all  earnest  readers." — Chicago  Evening  Journal. 

"  Mr.  Charles  Richardson  discusses  in  a  simple  and  attractive  style  the  origin  and 
effects  of  large  fortunes  and  the  cure  for  the  evils  which  he  believes  to  attend  their  exist 
ence.  The  book  contains  just  views  upon  many  points.  The  style  is  lucid,  the  spirit  fair, 
and  the  purpose  benevolent,  while  there  is  throughout  an  appearance  of  sincere  conviction 
that  wins  the  respect  and  sympathy  of  the  reader." — Washington  Public  Opinion. 

11 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 

A  Treatise  on  Mine- Survey  ing. 

For  the  Use  of  Managers  of  Mines  and  Collieries.    By  BENNETT  H.  BROUQH,  Asso 
ciate  and  Demonstrator  of  Mine-Surveying  at  the  Royal  School  of  Mines,  London, 
England.    With  Numerous  Illustrations.   300  pages.    Crown  8vo.    Cloth.    $2.50. 
A  most  important  and  accurate  work  on  a  subject  which  has  been  but  imperfectly 
treated  heretofore.     It  describes  the  most  approved  forms  of  American  instruments  and 
the  methods  used  in  the  unusually  accurate  surveys  made  in  the  Pennsylvania  Anthracite 
mines,  as  well  as  those  adopted  in  the  survey  of  metalliferous  mine-claims  in  the  Western 
United  States.     The  usual  British  mine-surveying  practice  is  also  duly  discussed,  and  the 
elaborate  methods  in  use  on  the  continent  of  Europe  are  described,  it  is  believed  for  the 
first  time,  in  the  English  language.     Proper  attention  is  given  to  the  recent  developments 
of  stadia-surveying  in  connection  with  mining  operations,  and  a  chapter  is  devoted  to  the 
use  of  the  magnetic  needle  in  prospecting  for  iron  ore. 

Construction  of  Bridges. 

A  Manual  of  the  Construction  of  Bridges.  By  T.  CLAXTON  FIDLER.  With 
Two  Hundred  and  Thirty  Engravings  printed  in  the  text,  and  Twenty-six 
Full-page  Plates.  8vo.  420  pages.  Extra  cloth.  $7.50. 

The  object  aimed  at  in  this  work  is  to  examine  the  practice  of  bridge-construction, 
and  the  experimental  facts  on  which  it  is  based,  in  the  light  of  reasonable  theory,  and  to 
state  the  theory  of  bridge-construction  in  such  a  practical  form  as  will  be  most  useful  for 
the  purposes  for  which  it  is  employed;  regarding  the  theory  simply  as  a  means  to  a  prac 
tical  end.  and  not  as  a  field  for  the  employment  of  learned  research. 

"  Mr.  Fidler  belongs  to  the  new  school,  and  for  them  he  has  written  a  book  which  is 
an  admirable  account  of  the  theory  and  process  of  bridge-design,  at  once  scientific  and 
thoroughly  practical.  It  is  a  book  such  as  we  have  a  right  to  expect  from  one  who  is  him 
self  a  substantial  contributor  to  the  theory  of  the  subject  as  well  as  a  bridge-builder  of 
repute." — London  Review. 

Picked  Up  in  the  Streets. 

A  Romance  from  the  German  of  H.  SCHOBERT.  By  MRS.  A.  L.  WISTER.  12mo. 
Extra  cloth.  $1.25. 

"  It  is  an  entertaining,  romantic  story,  with  a  healthy  moral.  The  pathos  is  genuine, 
and  those  who  figure  in  it  are  unexaggerated  types  of  human  nature.  It  may  be  read 
with  profit  and  pleasure  by  old  and  young." — Boston  Gazette. 

"  Most  excellent  and  interesting,  as  Mrs.  Wister  has  a  way  of  putting  life  into  any 
thing  which  she  changes  into  English." — Toledo  Blade. 

"  Will  take  its  place  among  the  best  of  the  stories  in  Mrs.  Wister's  lengthy  list." — 
Philadelphia  Evening  Telegraph. 

"One  of  the  best  novels  given  us  from  the  'German  for  some  time." — Boston  Home 
Journal. 

Pleasant  Waters:   A  Story  of  Southern  Life 

AND  CHARACTER.     By  GRAHAM  CLAYTOR.     12mo.     Extra  cloth.     $1.00. 

u  Very  readable  indeed.  We  laid  the  book  down  with  the  feeling  that  the  author  had 
done  his  work  well.  We  haven't  books  enough  on  the  Southern  people.  The  vein  has 
been  worked,  but  the  mine  has  not  been  thoroughly  developed.  The  Southern  people  and 
their  struggles  during  and  since  the  war  are  an  extremely  interesting  theme  for  the  novelist 
to  handle.  There  are  the  old-fashioned  planters,  who  never  were  and  never  can  enter  into 
the  spirit  of  the  new  regime;  the  young  men  of  the  New  South,  who  have  rolled  up  their 
sleeves  and  are  making  themselves  a  force  in  the  Kepublic;  and  the  darkey,  the  everlasting 
darkey,  with  his  fun,  his  ignorance,  his  tragedies,  his  comedies  of  errors,  and  his  determi 
nation  to  get  hold  of  the  right  end  of  things  some  time  and  to  make  a  man  of  himself. 
The  author  has  ploughed  in  this  field  and  turned  up  some  good  furrows." — New  York 
Herald. 

"  The  story  is  a  quiet  one,  well  told,  and  interesting." — New  York  Times. 

The  Old  Adam. 

A  Romance  by  H.  H.  BOYESEN.  Published  complete  in  Lippincotfs  Magazine 
for  May,  1888.  25  cents.  Half  cloth.  50  cents. 

"A  novel  that  displays  great  strength  and  talent." — New  York  Morning  Journal. 
"Delightfully  written,  worthy  of  one  of  our  best  hands." — Brooklyn  (N.  Y.)  Times. 
"  It  will  be  read  by  all  with  pleasure." — Topeka  (Kansas)  Democrat. 

12 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINC07T  COMPANY. 

Beautiful  Mrs.  Thorndyke. 

By  MRS.  POULTNEY  BIGELOW.  Published  complete  in  Lippincotfs  Magazine  for 
June,  1888.  25  cents.  Half  cloth.  50  cents. 

"  A  thrillingly  interesting  story  of  New  York  life,  and  is  worthy  of  the  highest 
praise." — Philadelphia  Sunday  Mercury. 

"A  highly  meritorious  novel." — Albany  (N.  Y.}  Press. 

"One  of  the  brightest,  most  winsome,  and  wholesomest  of  recent  works  of  fiction." 
— Camden  Coast  Guide. 

"  It  may  be  recommended  as  good  summer  reading." — New  York  Morning  Journal. 

The  Quick  or  the  Dead? 

AM£LIE  RIVES'S  First  Novel.  With  a  Portrait  of  the  Author.  Published  com 
plete  in  Lippincotfs  Magazine  for  April,  1888.  25  cents.  Half  cloth.  50 
cents. 

"The  novel  is  exceedingly  striking,  full  of  color-language,  like  a  brilliant  painting, 
and  strong  in  its  drawing,  like  a  magnificent  etching." — Pennsylvanian. 

"  It  has  splendor  of  imagination  and  exquisite  description ;  perfect  figures,  with  all 
the  hurried,  quick  movement  of  its  dramatic  incidents  ;  is  almost  perfect  in  execution." — 
Lafayette  Sunday  Leader. 

A  Blind  Lead. 

The  Story  of  a  Mine.     By  JOSEPHINE  W.  BATES.     12mo.     Cloth  extra.     $1.25. 

"  It  is  certainly  a  powerful  book.  We  took  it  up  indifferently  enough,  but  we  had 
read  a  few  pages  only  before  we  found  it  was  no  ordinary  work  by  no  ordinary  writer.  A 
good  deal  of  skill  is  shown  in  the  drawing  of  character.  There  are  no  dull  pages,  and  the 
interest  is  continuous  from  the  first  chapter  to  the  last.  We  do  not  envy  the  state  of  any 
one  who  can  read  this  book,  alive  with  noble  feeling  as  it  is,  and  then  toss  it  lightly  aside 
without  having  been  moved  by  it  in  the  least.  We  know  nothing  of  the  author  beyond 
what  the  book  may  indirectly  reveal,  but,  as  we  before  stated,  she  is  no  ordinary  writer, 
and  if  anything  we  have  here  said  shall  induce  any  of  our  readers  to  examine  the  book 
for  themselves,  we  are  reasonably  sure  that  they  will  agree  with  us." — Boston  Advertiser. 

"  There  is  much  of  the  pathetic  in  the  little  story,  and  one's  heart  will  ache  more  than 
once  before  the  book  is  finished." — Kansas  City  Times. 

Practical  Lessons  in  Nursing. 

I.  MILLS.— Nervous  and  Insane. 

II.  KEATING.— Maternity;  Infancy;  Childhood. 

III.  BRUEN.— Management  of  Diet. 

IV.  WILSON.— Practical  Lessons  in  Nursing. 

12mo.    Extra  cloth.    Price,  each,  $1.OO. 

"The  principles  involved  and  tender  care  of  the  sick  necessitated  caution  to  cultured 
aid  and  learned  requirements.  There  is  a  growing  demand  for  skilled  nursing,  and  these 
works  are  calculated  as  a  text  for  learners,  while  they  lead  the  practitioner  to  better  results. 
Neglect  of  earnest  requirement  alone  can  militate  against  the  merits  of  these  books." — St. 
Louis  Med.  Journal. 

tl  Valuable  books  that  should  find  entrance  into  every  home." — Philadelphia  Press. 

"  It  would  be  well  if  they  could  be  generally  read,  for  nurses  for  the  sick  cannot 
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"  Books  that  will  be  found  useful  for  tho*se  who  are  in  training  to  become  nurses,  but 
may  be  read  advantageously  by  those  not  professionally  inclined." — N.  Y.  Times. 

Doctor  and  Patient. 

By  S.  WEIR  MITCHELL,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  HARV.,  author  of  "  Fat  and  Blood,  and 
How  to  Make  Them,"  "  Wear  and  Tear ;  or,  Hints  for  the  Overworked,"  etc. 
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"  There  are  few  in  the  medical  profession  who  have  the  gift  of  writing  in  as  charming 
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the  beginning,  and  is  loath  to  lay  it  down  till  finished." — Ind.  Med  Journal. 

"For  all  women  who  desire  to  have  strong  nerves,  the  kind,  appreciative,  wise,  and 
firm  words  of  Dr.  Mitchell  are  a  godsend  and  a  guide." — Boston  Post. 

13 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 

Diseases  of  the  Skin. 

A  Manual  for  Practitioners  and  Students.    By  W.  ALLAN  JAMIESON,  M.D.,  F.P.C., 
P.E.,  Physician  for  Diseases  of  the  Skin,  Edinburgh  Royal  Infirmary,  etc.    Illus 
trated  with  Wood-Cuts  and  Oolorpd  Plates.     8vo.     Extra  cloth.     $fi.50. 
"  It  covers  the  whole  field  of  skin  diseases.     Facts  are  stated  positively,  and  opinions 
are  well  guarded  by  the  personal  experiences  of  eminent  clinicians.     It  is  a  systematic 
work  well  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  student  as  well  as  the  practitioner." — Richmond 
( Va. )  Medical  Monthly. 

Handy  Edition  of  Thackeray's  Works. 

Complete  in  27  vols.  "Denis  Duval,"  etc.,  1  vol.  "Paris  Sketch- Book,"  1  vol. 
"  The  Four  Georges,"  etc.,  1  vol.  "  Sketches  and  Travels,"  etc.,  1  vol.  "  Christ 
inas  Books,"  2  vols.  "  Roundabout  Papers,"  1  vol.  "  Ballads,"  1  vol.  "  Lovell 
the  Widower,"  1  vol.  "  Book  of  Snobs,"  1  vol.  "  Fitzboodle  Papers,"  1  vol. 
"  Yellowplush  Papers,"  1  vol.  "  Major  Gahagan,"  1  vol.  "  Great  Hoggarty 
Diamond,"  1  vol.  "  Irish  Sketches,"  1  vol.  "  Adventures  of  Philip,"  2  vols. 
"Henry  Esmond,"  1  vol.  "The  Virginians,"  2  vols.  "The  Newcomes,"  2 
vols.  "  Barry  Lyndon,"  etc.,  1  vol.  "  Pendennis,"  2  vols.  "  Vanity  Fair," 
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A  Tale  of  Two  Cities.     (1  Vol.) 

Just  Ready.  Handy  Edition  of  Dickens's  Works,  to  be  completed  in  30  vols.  16mo. 
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land,"  1  vol.  "  Old  Curiosity  Shop"  and  Reprinted  Pieces,  2  vols.  "  Edwin 
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House,"  2  vols.  "  Barnaby  Rudge,"  2  vols.  "Pickwick  Papers,"  2  vols. 
"  Christmas  Stories,"  1  vol.  "  Sketches  by  Boz,"  1  vol.  "  Nicholas  Nickleby," 
2  vols.  "  Great  Expectations,"  1  vol.  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit,"  2  vols.  "  Christ 
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In  Course  of  Preparation. — "  Our  Mutual  Friend,"  2  vols.  "  Uncommercial 
Traveller,"  1  vol.  "  Little  Dorrit,"  2  vols. 

The  clear  type,  fine  thin  paper,  with  uncut  edges  and  neat  binding,  make  these  little 
books  as  elegant  as  one  need  wish,  while  the  low  price  will  enable  all  lovers  of  Dickens  to 
possess,  at  a  very  small  outlay,  a  good  edition  of  his  works. 

BOOKS  IN   PRESS. 

Stanley  to  the  Rescue.      The  Relief  of  Emin 

PASHA.  By  A.  WAUTERS,  President  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of 
Belgium.  Translated  by  ELLEN  E.  FREWER.  With-  Map  and  Thirty-four  Illus 
trations.  12mo.  Cloth  extra.  $1.50. 

An  Elementary  Treatise  on  Human  Anatomy. 

By  JOSEPH  LEIDY,  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

A  Popular  History  of  Music, 

MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS,  BALLET,  AND  OPERA,  PROM  ST.  AMBROSE  TO  MOZART. 
By  JAMES  E.  MATTHEW.  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  Illustrations,  consisting  of 
Portraits,  Musical  Instruments,  Fac-Similes  of  Rare  and  Early  Musical  Typog 
raphy,  etc. 

Embroidery  and  Lace. 

By  ERNEST  LEFEBVRE,  Translated  from  the  French,  with  about  One  Hundred  and 
Fifty  Illustrations.  One  volume.  Large  12mo. 

14 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 

Laconisms  on  All  Sorts  of  Subjects ; 

OR,  THE  WISDOM  OP  MANY  IN  THE  WORDS  OP  ONE.     By  J.  M.  P.  OTTS,  D.D. 

The  Bronte  Novels. 

Handy  Edition.  Seven  volumes.  Uniform  with  the  Handy  Editions  of  Thackeray 
and  Dickens. 

Half-Hours  with  the  Best  Foreign  Authors. 

Translations  selected  and  arranged  by  CHARLES  MORRIS.  4  vols.  Crown  8vo. 
Uniform  with  "  Half-Hours  with  the  Best  American  Authors."  Also  an  Edition 
de  Luxe,  limited  to  one  hundred  copies.  In  4  vols.  Octavo. 

A  Cyclopaedia  of  Diseases  of  Children 

AND  THEIR  TREATMENT,  MEDICAL  AND  SURGICAL.  Edited  by  J.  M.  KEATING, 
M.D. 

The  Chemical  Analysis  of  Iron. 

A  Complete  Account  of  All  the  Best-Known  Methods  for  the  Analysis  of  Iron, 
Steel,  Pig-iron,  Iron  Ore,  Limestone,  Slag,  Clay,  Sand,  Coal,  Coke,  Furnace,  and 
Producer  Gases.  By  ANDREW  ALEXANDER  BLAIR,  Chief  Chemist  United 
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A  New  Novel. 

By  MRS.  H.  LOVETT  CAMERON,  author  of  "A  Life's  Mistake,"  "  In  a  Grass 
Country,"  "Pure  Gold,"  etc. 

A  New  Novel. 

By  the  "  DUCHESS,"  author  of  "  Marvel,"  "  The  Duchess,"  "A  Modern  Circe,"  etc., 
etc. 

The  Complete  Works  in  Verse  and  Prose  of  Percy 

BYSSHE  SHELLEY.  Edited,  Prefaced,  and  Annotated  by  RICHARD  HERNE 
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POETICAL  WORKS  IN  THREE  VOLUMES. 

VOL.  1.  "  The  Posthumous  Fragments  of  Margaret  Nicholson,"  "  The  Wandering 
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"Adonais,"  etc. 

VOL.  2.  "  Laon  and  Cythna,"  "  The  Cenci,"  "  Julian  and  Maddalo,"  "  Swellfoot 
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VOL.  3.     "  Posthumous  Poems,"  "  The  Masque  of  Anarchy,"  and  Other  Poems. 

PROSE   WORKS   IN   TWO   VOLUMES. 

VOL.  1.     "  Two  Romances  of  Zastrozzi  and  St.  Irvyne,"  "A  Refutation  of  Deism," 

"  Letters  to  Leigh  Hunt,"  etc. 
VOL.  2.     "  The  Essays,"  "  Letters  from  Abroad,"  "  Translations  and  Fragments," 

"  Bibliography  of  Shelley,"  and  an  Exhaustive  Index. 

In  Sets  of  Five  Volumes.  Cloth.  §6.25.  Half  morocco,  gilt  top.  $10.00. 
Three-quarters  calf.  $15.00.  A  Large  Paper  Edition  is  also  in  Preparation 
(Only  One  Hundred  Copies  Printed).  $20.00. 

15 


HEW  PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOT7  COMPANY. 


ENTIRELY   REVISED  AND   REWRITTEN. 

(^hambers's  i^ncyclopaedia, 


0) 

w 


2 

0 


a 


z 

M 


M 
2. 


Tissandier's  Controllable  Balloon. 


Honey  Ant  (Myrmecocystug  mexicanus)  :  a,  natural  size. 


oo 


Vol.  I.  Now  Ready.     Containing  3100  Articles,  313  Wood-Engravings,  and  12  Maps. 

EDITED   AND   PUBLISHED  UNDER   THE   AUSPICES   OF 

\V.  &    R.   CHAMBERS      .        .        .      Edinburgh, 
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OUR  STOCK 

includes  full  and   complete   lines  of  everything  in  the  lines  of  Dry 
Goods  that  the  market*  of  the  world  afford. 

MARKET,  EIGHTH^FILBERT  STS.,  PHILADELPHIA. 


LIPPINCOTT'S  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


A  TWELVE-ROOM    MODERN    HOUSE   OF   LOW  COST. 

The    floor  plans,  full  description  and  cost  (for  different  localities)  of  the  above  house 

AND  OF  60  OTHER  BEAUTIFUL  HOUSES  AND  COTTAGES, 

ranging  in  cost  from  $650  to  $3,000,  are  given  in  Shqppell's  latest  pamphlet  of  designs  (32  large 
pages),  which  will  be  mailed  to  any  address,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  25  cents  (stamps  or  silver). 
Address  R.  "W.  SHOPPELL,  ARCHITECT,  C3  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK.  (Mention  this  paper.) 


;  Humphrey's  Manual  of  Typewrit- 
!  ing,  Business  Letter-Writer,  and 
!  Exercises  for  Phonographic  Prac- 
I  tice.  Price, $1.50;  post-paid, $1.60. 
j  Humphrey's  Interlinear  Phono- 
j  graphic  Lessons  for  Self-Instruc- 
j  tion  ;  six  months'  course,  $25.  In 
terlinear  Short-Hand  Text-Book, 
j  $2.  Enclose  stamp  for  pamphlet 

'  and  specimen  pages. 

Humphrey'*  Phonographic  and  Typewriting 
In«titute,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"STAMMERING," 

And  all  defects  of  speech  Permanently  cared. 

The  Philadelphia  Pretbyterian  editorially  remarks : 
"  Prof.  Johnston's  Institute  is  considered  the  largest  and 
most  complete  in  its  appliances  of  any  in  the  U.  S.  His 
testimonials  from  Geo.  W.  Childs,  Prop.  Phila.  Ledger, 
John  Wanamaker,  Prof.  H.  C.  Wood,  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  other  eminent  citizens,  are  of  the 
very  highest  character,  and  show  that  he  enjoys  the  full 
est  confidence  of  men  of  that  class." 

For  full  information,  send  for  pamphlet  to  E.  S.  JOHN 
STON,  nth  and  Spring  Garden  Sts.,  Philadelphia. 


HOMOEOPATHY.  £ 

mortality  was  6.07,  at  Bellevue,  12.05,  and  at  Black  well's 
Island,  12.03.  The  cost  of  medicine  was  43  cents  at  first 
and  $1.46  per  head  at  last  two.  At  Ward's  Island  the 
treatment  is  Homoeopathic;  at  the  others  Homoeopathy 
U  not  "  recognized."  Comments  would  be  wasted.  We 
mail  our  Book-Catalogue  and  Family  Medicine-Case 
Price- List  free.  For  single  remedies,  by  mail,  send  25 
cents.  BOERICKE  &  TAFEL,  Homoeopathic  Phar 
macists  and  Publishers,  ion  Arch  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
145  Grand  St.,  New  York,  36  E  Madison  St.,  Chicago. 
If i »*/»»*•  .«(.«*  F,ntiil>liNliri1  in 


THE  LEADING  "ENGLISH  SPARROW  GUN. 


SEND2c.  STAMP  FOR  DESCRIPTIVE  CIRCULARS.  BY  EXPRESS,  IN 

AWOODFN  BOX  PREPAID  ANYWHERE  IN  U.S.  WITH  125  PROJEC 
TILES.  $2.00.  ENGLESPRINGGUNCO.,HAZLETON,PA. 


DRUNKARD 

There  is  no  happiness  either  for  you  or  your  family, 
your  wife  or  your  children,  while  you  continue  spending 
money  for  rum.  Make  a  change  at  once  for  the  better. 
Get  one  bottle  of 

PFEII/S  ANTIDOTE 

for  alcoholism,  costing  but  a  dollar,  and  in  less  than  a 
week  you  will  have  done  with  liquor  forever.  Sold  by 
all  druggists  and  at  office, 

No.  155  North  Second  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Send  for  circular.     Shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 


IMPROVED 

"ECLIPSE"  COPYING  APPARATUS. 

The  best  duplicating  process  extant.  One  thousand 
copies  in  black  only  equalled  by  lithography.  Perfect 
fac-similes  of  your  Handwriting.  In  many  cases 
"  Eclipse"  circulars  have  been  taken  for  ordinary 
written  letters.  Specimens  and  circulars  on  application. 

FELIX   F.   DAUS  &  CO., 

OSO   Hrntnlirfi}/,   \t-ir   York. 


WRIGLI  lY'S  SOAP 


SJL"VIQ 


a 

A   Silver-Plated   Teaspoon. 
GROCERS  SELL  IT. 


FOR.    12  FOR.    2O 

A  Silver-Plated  Sugar-Shell.     A  Silver-Plated  Butter-Snife. 

THE  WRIGLEY  MFG.  CO.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


LIPPINCOTrS  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


English  Compact  Cameras. 

Compactness  is 
the  principal  fea 
ture  of  this  Cam 
era.  We  have  in 
it  all  the  desirable 
facilities  possible, 
combining  great 
lightness  with  rig 
idity,  perfection  of 
detail  with  sim 
plicity  and  ease  of 
working  in  small 
est  space,  and 
with  the  least 
weight,  and  every 
convenience  and 
facility  possessed 
by  any  Camera. 

A  partial  front 
view  of  theCamera, 
folded,  showing  the 
sunken  tripod  top, 
with  clamping 
screw  in  centre. 

Send  IO  Cents  for  1888 
Edition   Illustrated   Catalogue,    ISO 

Brimful  of  new  and  improved  apparatus. 

The  Amateur  Guide  in  Photography. 

THE    REVISED    EDITIOJV 

It  Is  not  an  advertisement  foi  the  publishers'  goods,  but  is  filled  with 
advice  and  valuable  information  gleaned  from  a  knowledge  of  the 
beginner's  requirements  gained  by  constant  contact  with  students 
in  Photography,  while  acquiring  their  knowledge  of  the  art,  extend- 
lngxover  a  period  of  seven  years.  Sent,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of 

THE  BLAIR  CAMERA  CO. 

208  State  St.,  Chicago.        918  Arch  St.,  Philadelphia. 

OFFICE  AND  FACTORY: 
471,473, 4T5  <fc47T  Tremont  St.,  Boston,  Mu«*. 


pages. 


Barnes'  Patent  Foot  Power  Machinery. 

Workers  of  Wood  or  Metal, 

•without  steam  power,  by  using  outfits  of  these 
Machines,  can  bid  lower,  and  save 
more  money  from  their  jobs,  thant 
by  any  other  means  f  or  doine  their  1 
•work.     Also    for    INm'STUIAI.* 
SCHOOLS  or  Home  TltAlNING. 
With  them  boys  can  acquire  practi 
cal  journeyman's  trade  before  they 
"go  for  themselves."  Send  for  Cata 
logue.    W.  F.  &  JOHN  BARNKSj 
CO.,  No.  5^3  Ruby  St.,  Kockford,  111.' 


ASTHMA 


WATERLOO  ORGANS 


are  noted  for  unequalled  quality  of  tone,  su 
perior  finish  and  design,  of  eases.  Tttey  pump 
one-half  easier  than  any  other  tna.de. 

BEST  IN  THE  WORLD. 

In  localities  where  we  have  no  agents  will 
sell  direct  to  public  at  wholesale  prices,  for 
prices  and  catalogues,  address 

MALCOLM  LOVE  &   CO., 

Waterloo,  X.  P. 


RICHARD  BINDER, 

IMPORTER  OF 

French  Human  Hair  ani  Hair  Goods. 

Elegant  Front  Pieces,  Braids,  Wigs, 

IN  STOCK    OR    MADE  TO  ORDER. 

Hair  Dressing,  Cutting,  and  Shampooing. 

Weddings  and  Parties  Attended. 

Binder's  "  PHYTALIA"  positively  cures  dand 
ruff  and  strengthens  the  hair. 


THIRTEENTH,  ABOVE  CHESTNUT  STr, 

OPPOSITE   WANAMAKER'S. 


HAY  FEVER. 


VJEVAY,  IND.,  Feb.  9,  1888. 
Your  ASTHMA  CURE  has  effected  an 
entire  cure  in  my  case.  I  have  no  more 
asthma,  my  appetite  is  good  and  I  am 
gaining  in  flesh.  I  had  asthma  in  its 
worst  form  :  my  physician  said  mine  was 
as  bad  a  case  as  he  ever  saw.  If  anyone 
doubts  the  genuineness  of  this  or  wishes 
to  know  anything  more  from  me  on  the 
subject,  if  he  will  write  me,  I  will  take 
pleasure  in  answering  him  promptly. 

JAS.  K.  PLEASANTS. 

Judge  Daniel  Peck,  Wheeling,  W.  Va., 
writes: 

I  got  a  full  set  of  your  HAY  FEVEE 
medicines,  and  took  them  till  the  last 
symptom  of  the  disease  departed.  I  have 
recommended  them  to  all  my  acquaintances 
troubled  with  hay  fever.  I  consider  them 
a  specific  for  that  disease. 

Respectfully,        DANIEL  PECK. 

PAMPHLET    FREE    ON    BEQUEST. 

ADDRESS 

THE  L.  A.  KNIGHT  CO. 

15  East  Third  Street,      CINCINNATI,  0. 

THAT 
SAVES 

MOST  LABOR 
^PURCHASE  GEAR 

Saves  half  the  labor  of  other 
wringers,  and  costs  but  little  more. 


—  The  CLOTHES. 

Solid  White  Kubber  Rolls.      Warranted.      Agents 
wanted  everywhere.    Empire  W.  Co..  Auburn.  N.  Y 


JHE  AMERICAN  CYCLES 

DESCRIPTIVE  CATALOGUE 

ON  APPLICATION. 
GORMUIlYaJEFEERY 


CHICAGO,  ILL. 

tsi  MANUFACTURERS  IN  AMERICA 


"AS  YOU  LIKE  IT." 

Installment  Flan  or  CASH. 
BICYCLES,  TRICYCLES,  VICTOR, 
VICTOR,  JR.,  VICTOR  SAFETY, 
SPALDINC'S  PREMIER.  For  full 
particulars  address  with  stamp, 

i.G.SPALDING  &  BROS 

108  Madison  St.,  Chicago.. 
241  Broadway,  New  York. 


W 


ANTED   Ladies  and  Misses  to  do  crochet- 
work  at  home ;  city  or  country  ;  steady  work. 
WESTERN  LACE  MFG.  CO., 

218  STATE  St.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


TA  YSPEPTICS,  incurable  preferred,  WANTED.  Ad- 
JL/  dress  J.J.  F.  Popp,Phila. ,  Pa.   Mention  this magMine. 


PURE  SPICES 

COOKINCTXTRACTS, 

17  North  Eleventh  St.,  Philadelphia,  Fa. 


n 


21 


LIPPINCOTT S MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


CURE  THE  DEAF 

PKCK'S  PATTEST  IMPROVED    CTTSH- 


juries  to  the  natural  drums.  Invisible, 
comfortable,  always  in  position.  Mo- 


B™»o          oor  Mtw     or,  for 
illustrated  book  of  proofs  JfKHK. 


FURIY1AN 

STEAM 

HEATER 


Is  guaranteed  to  furnlih  more  heat  per  lb. 
of  fuel  burned  than  any  other  appa 
ratus  in  the  world.  Maie  in  16  sizes. 
BUBHS  SftUALLT  WILL  HASH  OB 
SOFT  COAL.  Send  for  full  illustrated 
Catalogue.  Address 

HEKENDEEN  MFG.  CO.,  GENEVA,  >  .Y. 


$2.00  ONLY! 

OF 

The  Art  Amateur. 

Send  this  advertisement  and  two  dollars,  before  Sep 
tember  ist,  1888,  DIRECT  TO  THE  PUBLISHER, 
and  you  will  receive 

9   MONTHS'   SUBSCRIPTION 

(April  to  December,  1888,  regular  price  $3),  including 
100  PA3BS  OF  DESIGNS  in  black  and  white,  working  size, 
admirably  adapted  for  Oil  and  Water-Color  Painting, 
Tapestry  Painting,  China  Painting,  Church  and  Home 
Embroidery,  Wood  Carving,  Brass  Hammering,  and 
other  Art  Work ;  and  200  PAOtZS  Of  TZIT  richly  illus 
trated  and  crowded  with  interesting  and  valuable  articles, 
with  abundant  hints  for  Home  Decoration  and  Fur 
nishing. 

PRACTICAL 

ARTICLES! 

Sketching  from  Nature; 
Hints  to  Art  Teachers; 
Lessons  in  China  Paint 
ing;  Hints  about  Char 
coal  Drawing ;  Wood 
Carving  and  Designing; 
Portrait  Posing  and 
Painting;  very  full  and 
Simple  Instructions  for 

FLOWER  AND  LANDSCAPE 

Painting  In  Oils  and  "Water  Colors. 
Five  different  Specimen  Numbers  with  Five  Beautiful 
Colored  Plates  (of  our  selection)  will  be  sent  on  receipt 
of  this  (LIPPINCOTT,  July)  paragraph  and  one  dollar 
(regular  price  $1.75).    Address 

MONTAGUE  MARKS,  23  Union  Square,  N.Y. 


U  COLORED 
PLATES: 

i.  Cherries _ April 

*.  Laughing  Man May 

3.  Red  Roses June 

4.  Ferns July 

5.  Golden  Rod Aug. 

6.  Birds  of  Paradise... .Sept. 
j.  Stormy  Ceast  Scene.-Oct. 

8.  Water  Lily Nov. 

9.  Moonlight  L'dscape.Nov. 
10.  "Hearts  are  Trumps"Dec. 
ti.  Winter  Landscape. ..Dec. 


|N  OFFICE  BUILDINGS, 

with  17.  S.  Mail  Chutes,  (pat'd), 

and  the  17.  S.  free  collection  ser- 

I    vice,  tenants  mail  letters  without 

M    going  down  stairs.   Write  for  par- 

^^  titulars,     The   Cutler  Mfg.  Co., 

^^    Rochester,  N.Y.,  Sole  Makers.' 


Dobbins'  Electric  Soap. 


THE  BEST  FAMILY  SOAP 
IN  THE  WORLD. 

It  is  Strictly  Pnre.  Uniform  in  Quality. 

THE  original  formula  for  which  we  paid   $50,000 
twenty  years  ago  has   never  been   modified   or 
changed  in  the  slightest.    This  soap  is  iden 
tical  in  quality   to-day   with  that 
made  twenty  years  ago. 
TT  contains  nothing  that  can  injure 
•*•  the  finest  fabric.    It  brightens  colors 
and  bleaches  whites. 

TT  washes  flannels  and  blankets  as  no  other  soap  in 
•*•  the  world   does — without  shrinking — leaving  them 
soft  and  white  and  like  new. 

READ  THIS  TWICE. 


H1HERE  is  a  great  savins  of  time,  of  labor,  of 
J  soap,  of  fuel,  and  of  the  fabric,  where  Dobbins' 
Electric  Soap  is  used  according  to  directions. 
QNE  trial  will  demonstrate  its  great  merit.  It 
v  will  pay  you  to  make  that  trial. 
T  IKE  all  best  things,  it  is  extensively  imitated' 
f*  and  counterfeited. 


J3eware  of  Imitations. 

TNSIST  upon  Dobbins'   Electric.      Don't    take 
•*•  Magnetic,  Electro-Magic,  Philadelphia  Electric,  or 
any  other  fraud,  simply  because  it  is  cheap.     They  will 
ruin  clothes,  and  are  dear  at  any  price.     Ask  for 

—  ..<>.-<$.  DOBBINS'   ELECTRIC  -£>«<>•— 

and  take  no  other.  Nearly  every  grocer  from  Maine  to 
Mexico  keeps  it  in  stock.  If  yours  hasn't  it,  he  will  or 
der  from  his  nearest  wholesale  grocer. 

T3  EAD  carefully  the  inside  wrapper  around  each  bar, 

J^-  and  be  careful  to  follow  directions  on  each 

outside  wrapper.     You  cannot  afford  to  wait  longer 

before  trying  for  yourself  this  old,  reliable,  and  truly 

wonderful 

Dobbins'  +  Electric  *  Soap. 


THE  FEANKLIN 

BOOK-RACK  and  DICTIONARY-HOLDER 

36  inches  high,  19  inches  wide, 
20  inches  deep. 

Ash $8.00 

Ebony  Finish 10.00 

Cut  2  shows  the  Rack  with  a  Ref 
erence-Book  ready  for  use. 


Cut  3  shows  the  Rack  with 
Atlas  or  Folio  ready  for  use. 
Large  folios  between  the  up 
rights,  and  heavy  volumes,  like 
Dictionaries  or  Gazetteers,  rest 
ing  in  the  cross-pieces  in  front. 

NIMS  &  KNIGHT, 

Manufacturers,        TROY,  N.Y, 


WANTED— All  Foundrymen  to  send  for  Keim's 
WaUr  Jacketed  Cupola  Furnace  Catalogue.  It's 
the  best  one  put  and  a  great  labor-saver.  Mining  men 
should  send  for  a  catalogue  of  Smelting  Machinery  and 
Diamond  Bit  Rock-Drill,  that  brings  up  a  solid  core  1000 
ft.  Address  Hartsfeld  Furnace  Co.,  Limited,  Box  459,  Cincinnati,  0. 


P 

^ 


ARLOW'S  INDiCO  BLUE. 

IU  m.riW  ai  a  WASH  BLUB  bar*  U«m  fall?  tautcd  and 
eadon*d  »jr  tkovMttdl  of  honMfeMpwi.  Y«mr  mwr  ought 
U  k»r«  it  on  ml*.  Aak  kin  for  it  D.  S.  WIIJTBBXOKR, 
Proprietor,  2S3  Ifertk  Seeond  gtTMt,  Fhlla4*lphia>  fa. 


LIPPINCOTT'S  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


Capital  and  Surplus,  $1,140,000. 


SAM'L  M.  JARVIS,  President. 
ROLAND  R.  CONKLIK,  Secretary. 


Guaranteed  Mortgages,  Debenture  Bonds, 

AND 

Investment  Securities. 


989  Broadway,  Jtfew  fork, 
18  West  8i*th  Street,  Santas  City,  Mo., 
144  South  fourth  Street,  Philadelphia,. 


THE 


Fidelity  and  Casualty  Company 


OF  NEW  YORK. 


Nos.  214  and  216  Broadway,  N.Y. 


CAPITAL,  $«  50,000.00.    ASSETS,  Jan.  i,  '88,  |64»,iai.j2. 


Isiues  SURETY  BONDS  guaranteeing  the 
fidelity  of  person*  in  positions  of  trust,  such  as  Em 
ployees  of  Railroads,  Banks,  etc.,  also  Administrators, 
Guardians,  etc. 

Issues  ACCIDENT  POLICIES,  containing 
all  modern  features. 

Also  PLATE  GLASS  AND  BOILER 
POLICI ES  of  approved  forms. 


OFFICERS: 
WM.  M.  RICHARDS,  President. 

GBO.  F.  SEWAKD,  Vice- President. 
JOHH  M.  CRANK,  Secretary. 

ROB'T  J.  HILLAS,  Asst.  Secretary. 

DIRECTORS : 
Goo.  S.  Co*    .   .  Pres.  Americas  Exchange  Nat.  Bank. 

J.  S.  T.  Stranakan Pres.  Atlantic  Dock  Co. 

A.  E.  Orr Of  David  Dows  &  Co. 

G.  G.  Williams   ....  Pres.  Chemical  National  Bank. 

A.  B.  Hull Retired  Merchant. 

H.  A.  Hurlbut .  Pr«s.  of  Commissioners  of  Emigration. 
J.  D.  Vermilye    .   .   .    Pres.  Merchants  National  Bank. 

John  L.  Riker Of  J.  L.  &  D.  S.  Riker. 

J.  G.  McCullough     ....   Pres.  Panama  Railway  Co. 

T.  S.  Moore Of  Moore,  Low  &  Wallace. 

J.  Rogers  Maxwell  ....  Pres.  Central  R.  R.  of  N.  J. 

Wm.  M.  Richards President. 

Geo.  F.  Seward Vice-President. 


U 


JSED  AND  RECOMMENDED  by  MEISSONIER,  KAUL- 
BAC«.  VON  PILOTY,  GAB.  MAX,  and  the  most  emi 
nent  artiste  throughout  the  world.    The 

Johann  Faber  Siberian  Lead  Pencils. 

Nona  genuine  unless  stamped  JOH  AN  M  F  ABER.    For  sale 
by  all  stationers  and  dealers  in  Artiste*  Materials. 
QUEEN  &  CO.,  PHILADELPHIA, 

General  Agents  for  the  U.  S. 


Guarantee  Fund  to  secure  Investors, 


Conservative  Management  ensured  by  double 
liability  of  Stockholders. 


35  I/ears'  continuous  business  without  the  loss 
of  a  dollar  to  a  single  investor. 

PHILADELPHIA  DIREOTOBS: 
WM.  B.  BEMENT,  Industrial  Iron  Works. 
GEO.  BURNHAM,  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works. 
GEO.  PHILLER,  Pres.  First  National  Bank. 
GEO.  M.  TROUTMAN,  Pres.  Central  National  Bank. 
WM.  McGEORGE,  Jr.,  Counsellor  at  Law. 

The  celebrated  6  per  cent.  First  Mortgages  of  this 
Company  in  amounts  from  £aoo  to  $20,000,  the  principal 
and  interest  of  which  are  guaranteed  by  th«  above  fund, 
for  sale  at  par  and  accrued  interest.  Send  for  pamphlets. 

WM.  McGEORQE,  Jr., 
It,, llUt   JtttilitiHff,  181-143  South  4th  St. 


PEEFEOTED  PLAN. 


Accident  Insurance  at  Aetna!  Cost! 


28O    BROADWAY, 
NEW  YOBK  OITT. 


A.  N.  LOCKWOOD,  President. 

EQUITABLE    ARRANGEMENT    OF    CLASSES. 

NON-FORFEITABLE   POLICIES. 
AMPLE  FINANCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY. 

SS.OOO.OO  Life  Indemnity. 
$2,6OO.OO  Loss  of  Hand  or  Foot. 
$5,OOO.OO  Loss  of  Hand  and  Foot,  or 
both  Hands  or  both  Feet. 
$1,25O.OO  Loss  of  Eye. 

$25.OO  Weekly  Indemnity  for  26 
consecutive  weeks. 


TOTAL  COST  TO  MEMBER  ABOUT  $12.00  PER 
YEAR,  IN  BI-MONTHLY  PAYMENTS  OF  $2.00 
EACH.  

ACTIVE  AGENTS  WANTED. 


PRINT  YOUR  OWNCARDS! 

Press  $8.00.  Circular  Pres«  88.00,  News 
paper  Size,  144.00.  Type-setUng  easy. 
Printed  directions.  Send  a  stamps  for  our 
list  of  Presses,  Typ«,  etc.,  to  factory. 

KKL8ET  ft  CO.,  Meriden,  Conn. 
PLEASE  MENTION  THIS  MAGAZINE. 


R,  M,  LAMBIE, 

ALL   KINDS   OF 

BOOK 

HOLDERS 

THE  MOST  PERFECT 

Dictionary  Holder. 

Send  for  Illustrated 

Catalogne. 
39  East  19th  St,  X.Y. 


L1PPINCOTTS  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


PARLOR  MIRRORS, 

ENGRAVINGS, 

ETCHINGS, 


PAINTINGS, 
EASELS,  PEDESTALS, 
PICTURE  FRAMES,  Etc. 


., 


1022  MARKET  ST.,  PHILA.,  PA., 

LEADING  TENITIS  OUT-FITTERS 


In  shape  our  \ 
" Talte" 
Racket  does 

not  differ  a  particle  from  either  the 
iii an"  or  "Sears."    In  stringing,  we  claim 
superiority,  as  we  use  Imported  Oat  only,  which  by  ^ 
actual  test  stands  30  per  cent,  more  strain  than  the  Ameri 
can   gut.     We   use  the   same   gut   in   our  Quaker  City 
Racket.    Send  for  our  Complete  Tennis  Catalogue. 
Sports  of  every  description. 


ILL 
i  i  i 


In-  and  out-door 


ABSOLUTE  SATISFACTION  GUARANTEED, 


raorr,  mm  &  BENEDICT,  327  Broadway,  n 

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FIFTEENTH  EDITION.     ILLUSTRATED. 

Carefulty  Bevised  and  Rewritten  137 
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OW  TO  WRITE  ENGLISH. 

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THE  PRIMER  OF  POLITENESS : 

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A 


DRILL-BOOK  IN  ALGEBRA. 


Exercises  for  Class-Drill  and  Review.  Arranged  according  to  subjects. 
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OBJECT  LESSONS. 

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***  For   sale  by   all   Booksellers,  or  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  on   receipt  of  the 
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PHONOCRAPHYs0^0^ 

Works  for  self-instruction,  by  BenH  Pitman  and 
Jerome  B.  Howard,  forsale  by  all  book-selers.  Cat 
alog,  alfabet  and  ilustratioua  sent  fre.    Adres 
Phonographic  Institute.  Cincinnati.  Ohio. 


DON'T  DRINK  DIRTY  WATER. 
Best  aud  Cheapest  Burersible  Self- 
Cleansing  Water  Filter  ever  Offered. 
Brass  Nickel-Plated.  Fits  any  Faucet. 
Price,  50c.,  post-paid.  J.  H.  SEED, 
Manufacturer,  41  &  43  Centre  Street, 
New  York. 


BLACK 


VIOLET 


PINK    I     RED    |    GREEN 


You  can  make  it  yourself  without  the  slightest  trouble,  nnrt  at  a 
saving  of  2OO  per  cent,  with  WALPOLB  INK  POWDERS, 
which  will  yield  several  quarts  of  the  best  Ink  in  the  world. 
Package  of  either  color  2o  cents.  Liberal  discount  in  lar^e  pack 
ages  to  parties  desiring  to  make  Ink  for  sale.  Used  extensively  br 
Schools,  Banks,  Merchants,  and  Blank  Book  Manufacturers.  Full 
information  by  circular,  free  by  mail.  Address, 
WALPOUE  DYE  AND  CHEMICAL  COMPANY 
119  Milk  St., 


$5 


to  $8  a  Day.  Sample*  worth  $1.59  fuss. 
Lines  not  under  the  Horse's  feet  Write  BSEW- 
STSI  SAFBT7  BEIM  HOLDS!  CO.,  Holly,  Mich. 

CORSETS 

Boned  with  Featherbone. 
^— Aik  your  Dealer  for  them. 


,- _jal  relief  for  deafness  has 

found.  An  invisible  device  which  is  the  same 
to  the  ears  as  glasses  to  the  eyes.  Worn  for 
months  without  removal.  Successful  where 
every  other  remedy  has  failed.  A  triumph  of 
the  19th  century.  For  sale  only  by  the  inventor,  _ 
H.  A.  WALES,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 


Cosmetic  for  a  beautiful  complexion.  Guar 
anteed  to  be  perfectly  harmless;  recommended  by 
the  Medical  Profession,  and  warranted  to  remove 
Tan,  Freckle*,  Moth  Patches,  Sunburn,  Pim 
ples,  etc.  Cures  Salt  Rheuin  and  Erysipelas. 
A.  Medicine  for  the  Skin.  Price,  5O  cents. 

ST.  JOHN  &  CO., 
317  Sixth  Avenue,  New    York 

mini  LADIES'  C3L1E5E,  L"l^ 

Has  few  equals  and  no  sup  trio  r  in  Amtric*. 
Highest  Culture,  Art,  Music,  Literature,  Elo 
cution.     Climate  exceptionally  healthy.    Cost  moder 
ate.     For  circular,  address  Her  E. H.  ENGLISH,  M.I.,  Principal. 


TO  STOUT  PEOPLE. 

AdricePree  HOW  TO  REDUCE  WEIGHT  and  perman 
ently  cure  OBESITY.  Only  «ure  method.  Starvation  Diet 
and  nanseons  drtips  unnecessary.  New  Trealiie,  with  full  in 
structions  HOW  TO  ACT,  sent  in  plain  sealed  envelope  for 
6 stamps.  £.  K.  LYNTON.  19 Park  Flac*.  New  York. 


GNYBTONURYRCLX 

Just  what  every  lady  wants  who 
does  Fancy  Work.  Is  light  and  dura 
ble,  being  made  of  metal.  Nickel* 
PlitSi.  Far  better  than  the  old 
wooden  hoops.  By  mail,  for  =;octs. 
Address  NEW  MOON  RING, 
Chicago.  Send  for  circular.  A 
few  lady  agents  wanted. 


CARNRICKS^FOOD 


•W     ^^•••••^•^^^••IDHSB^mSHB—*^— — ^— »^»— — 

Perfectly  nourishes -the  child  from  birth,  without  the  addition  of  cow's  milk, 
and  digests  as  easily  as  human  milk.  Send  for  "Our  Baby's  First  and  Second 
Years,"  by  Marion  Harland.  REED  &  CARNRICK,  New  York. 

31 


LIPPINCOTTS  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 

BEST  STORIES  BY  POPULAR  AUTHORS. 


Jjppincott's  Series  of  Select Jfovels, 

16mo.  Paper  Cover.  Q5  Cts. 


ROSA  N.  CAREY. 


BARBARA  HEATHCOTE'S  TRIAL. 
QUEENIE'S  WHIM. 
NELLIE'S  MEMORIES. 
FOR  LILIAS. 
NOT  LIKE  OTHER  GIRLS. 


ROBERT  ORD'S  ATONEMENT. 
WOOED  AND  MARRIED. 
UNCLE  MAX. 
WEE  WIFIE. 

ONLY  THE  GOVERNESS. 


JUNE. 

I  HAVE  LIVED  AND  LOVED. 
MY  LORD  AND  MY  LADY. 
ROY  AND  VIOLA. 
DOLORES. 


MRS.   FORRESTER. 

DIANA  CAREW. 
VIVA. 

RHONA, 


MIGNON. 

ONCE  AGAIN. 


THE    "DUCHESS." 


FAITH  AND  UNFAITH. 

DORIS. 

ROSSMOYNE. 

BEAUTY'S  DAUGHTERS. 

AIRY  FAIRY  LILIAN. 

PORTIA. 

MOLLY  BAWN. 

LOYS,  LORD  BERRESFORD. 

MRS.  GEOFFREY. 


"O  TENDER  DOLORES." 

A  MAIDEN  ALL  FORLORN. 

PHYLLIS. 

IN  DURANCE  VILE. 

LADY  BRANKSMERE. 

A  MENTAL  STRUGGLE. 

LADY  VAL WORTH'S  DIAMONDS. 

A  MODERN  CIRCE. 

THE  DUCHESS. 


MARVEL. 


MRS.  H.  LOVETT  CAMERON. 

IN  A  GRASS  COUNTRY.  I  PURE  GOLD. 

VERA  NEVILL.  WORTH  WINNING. 

A  LIFE'S  MISTAKE. 


COURT  ROYAL. 


S.  BARING-GOULD. 
THE  GAVEROCKS. 


RICHARD"CABLE. 


DAPHNE.    "Rita." 

TOO  CURIOUS.    Edward  J.  Goodman. 
A  FALLEN  IDOL.    F.  Anstey. 

TRUE  LOVE.    Lady  Di  Beauclerk. 

SUNSHINE  IN  THE  SHADY  PLACE.    Edith  Milner. 
DOCTOR  CUPID.    Rhoda  Broughton. 

THAT  OTHER  PERSON.    Mrs.  Alfred  Hunt. 

GEOFFREY  STIRLING.    Mrs.  Leith  Adams. 
MOLOCH.    Mrs.  Campbell  Praed. 


ALSO   BOUND    IN   HALF  CLOTH,  FIFTY  CENTS. 


*»*  For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postage  prepaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price  by 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  Publishers,  715  and  717  Market  St.,  Phi/a. 

32 


L/PPJACOTT'S  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


OUIDA'S  POPULAR  NOVELS. 


Bound  in  Extra  Cloth,  Black  and  Gilt  Ornamentation. 

FKICE,  $1.25  PER  VOLUME. 


ARIADNE. 

"  It  is  the  strongest  of  the  author's  works ;  strong 
in  its  passionate  utterances,  strong  in  its  feeling, 
and  at  times  grand  in  its  pathos.  We  know  of  no 
one  in  the  world  who  could  write  such  novels  as 
hers." — Boston  Evening  Traveller. 

IN  A  WINTER  CITY. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  of  the  recent 
works  of  this  undeniably  powerful  novelist." — 
New  Haven  Journal  and  Courier. 

GRANYILLE  DE  YIGNE. 

"This  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  spicy 
works  of  fiction  which  the  present  century,  so  pro 
lific  in  light  literature,  has  produced." 

STRATHMORE. 

"  It  is  a  romance  of  the  intense  school,  but  it  is 
written  with  more  power,  fluency,  and  brilliancy 
than  the  works  of  Miss  Braddon  and  Mrs.  Wood, 
while  its  scenes  and  characters  are  taken  from  high 
life." — Boston  Transcript. 

CHANDOS. 

"  Those  who  have  read  '  Granville  de  Vigne'  and 
'  Strathmore'  will  be  sure  to  read  Chandos.  It  is 
characterized  by  the  same  gorgeous  coloring  of 
style,  and  is  a  story  of  surprising  power  and  in 
terest." — Pittsburgh  Evening  Chronicle. 

PUCK. 

"  Its  quaintness  will  provoke  laughter,  while  the 
interest  in  the  central  character  is  kept  up  una 
bated." — Albany  Journal. 

IDALIA. 

"  It  is  a  story  of  love  and  hatred,  of  affection 
and  jealousy,  of  intrigue  and  devotion." — Albany 
Evening  Journal. 

TRICOTR1N. 

"With  Portrait  of  the  Author  from  an  En 
graving  on  Steel. 

"  The  book  abounds  in  beautiful  sentiment,  ex 
pressed  in  a  concentrated,  compact  style  which 
cannot  fail  to  be  attractive,  and  will  be  read  with 
pleasure  in  every  household." — San  Francisco 
Times. 

PASCAREL. 

"  A  charming  novel,  far  in  advance  of  '  Ouida's' 
earlier  novels." — London  Athenceum. 


UNDER  TWO  FLAGS. 

"  This  is  probably  the  most  popular  work  of 
'  Ouida.'  It  is  enough  of  itself  to  establish  her 
fame  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  graphic 
writers  of  fiction  now  living." — Chicago  Joumtil 
of  Commerce. 

BEATRICE  BOVILLE, 

And  other  Stories. 

"  The  many  works  already  in  print  by  this  ver 
satile  authoress  have  established  her  reputation  as 
a  novelist,  and  these  short  stories  contribute  largely 
to  the  stock  of  pleasing  narratives  and  adventures 
alive  to  the  memory  of  all  who  are  given  to  ro 
mance  and  fiction." — New  Haven  Journal. 

BEBEE. 

"  Simplicity  and  pure  nature,  unmarred  by  sen 
sationalism  of  any  kind,  make  the  story  as  excel 
lent  as  anything  '  Ouida'  has  written." — Philadel 
phia  North  American. 

FOLLE-FARINE. 

"  '  Ouida's'  pen  is  a  graphic  one,  and  page  after 
page  of  gorgeous  word-painting  flows  from  it  in  a 
smooth,  melodious  rhythm  that  often  has  the  per 
fect  measure  of  blank  verse,  and  needs  only  to  be 
broken  into  line.  There  is  in  it,  too,  the  eloquence 
of  genius." — Philadelphia  Evening  Bulletin. 

RANDOLPH  GORDON. 

"  Our  word  for  it,  it  is  full  of  sparkle,  dramatic 
situation,  and  sharp  characterization.  We  have 
never  yet  seen  a  dull  page  from  '  Ouida.'  " — New 
Orleans  Picayune. 

SIGNA. 

"The  story  is  intensely  dramatic,  and  most  viv 
idly  appeals  to  the  sympathy  of  a  lover  of  the 
warmer  order  of  literature.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  it's  'Ouida's,'  for  no  one  ever  wrote  as  she 
wrote." — Boston  Traveller. 

A  LEAF  IN  THE  STORM, 

And.  other  Novelettes.    "With  2  Illustra 
tions.    8vo.    Paper  cover.    50  cts. 

"  Those  who  look  upon  light  literature  as  an  art 
will  read  these  tales  with  pleasure  and  satisfac 
tion." — Baltimore  Gazette. 

CECIL  CASTLEMAINE'S  GAGE, 

And  other  Stories. 


V  For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  will  be  sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price  by 

J.  B.  I^IPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  Publishers, 


715    staa-d.    TIT"    S^arlcet    Street, 

33 


LIPPINCOTTS  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


$85  SOLID  GOLD  WATCH  FREE! 

This  splendid,  solid  gold,  hunting-case  watch,  is  now  sold  for 
$85;  at  that  price  it  is  the  best  bargain  in  America;  until  lately 
It  could  not  he  purchased  for  less  than  $100.  We  have  both  la 
dies'  and  gents'  sizes  with  works  and  cases  of  equal  value. 
ONE  PERSO1V  inea.-h  locality  can  secure  one  of  these 
elegant  watches  absolutely  F"  JKEE.  These  watches  may  ba 
depended  on,  not  only  as  solid  gold,  but  as  standing  among  tho 
most  perfect,  correct  anil  reliable  timekeepers  in  the  world.  You 
ask  how  is  this  wonderftil  offer  possible?  We  answer— we  want 
one  person  in  each  locality  to  keep  in  their  homes,  and  show  to 
those  who  call,  a  complete  line  of  our  valuable  and  vepy  useful 
HOUSEHOLD  SAMPLES;  these  samples,  as  well  as  the  watch, 
•we  send  ABSOLUTELY  FREE,  and  after  you  have  kept  them  in 
your  home  for  2  months,  and  shown  them  to  those  who  may 
have  called,  they  become  entirely  your  own  property ;  It  is  pos 
sible  to  make  this  great  offer,  sending  the  Solid  Gold 
'Watch  and  large  line  of  valuable  samples  FREE,  for  the 
reason  that  the  showing  of  the  samples  in  any  locality,  always 
results  in  a  large  trade  for  us ;  after  our  samples  have  been  in  a 
locality  for  a  month  or  two,  we  usually  get  from  $1,000  to 
$5.000  in  trade  from  the  surrounding  country.  Those  who  write 
to  us  at  once  will  receive  a  great  benefit  for  scarcely  any  work 
and  trouble.  This,  the  most  remarkable  and  liberal  offer  ever 
known,  is  made  in  order  that  our  valuable  Household  Samples 
may  be  placed  at  once  where  they  can  be  seen,  all  over  Ameri 
ca;  reader,  it  will  be  hardly  any  trouble  for  you  to  show  them  to 
those  who  may  callat  your  home,  and yourreward  will  be  most 
satisfactory.  A  postal  card,  on  which  to  write  us,  costs  but  1 
cent,  and  if,  after  you  know  all,  you  do  not  care  to  go  further, 
why  no  harm  is  done.  But  if  you  do  send  your  address  at 
once,  you  can  secure,  FREE,  Air  ELEGANT  885,  SOLID  GOLD, 
HUWTINO-CASE  WATCH  and  our  large,  complete  line  of  valu 
able  HOUSEHOLD  SAMPLES.  We  pay  all  express  freight,  etc. 
Address,  STUf  SON  &  Co.,  Box  241  Portland,  Maine. 


•JDS-TU1PI! 


ORDERS  BY  MAIL. 


ILLUSTRATIVE 
AND  ADVERTISING 
DURP©SESi 


JAMES  Met REEKY  &  CO. 
Invite  correspondence  in  regard 
to  Samples  and  prices  of  their 
varied  lines  of  Silk,  Woollen, 
and  Cotton  Dress  Materials. 
Black  Silks,  Colored  Satins, 
Printed  Pongees,  Mixed  and 
Check  Cheviots  for  Summer 
Wear,  Satteens,  Ginghams,  and 
all  Wash  Fabrics  are  kept  in 
select  variety.  Orders  by  letter 
are  filled  by  our  most  experi 
enced  salesmen,  and  with  as 
sured  satisfaction  to  the  cus 
tomers. 

JAMES  McCREERY  &  CO., 

Broad  way  and  llth  St., 

IVew  York. 


00  YOU 
WRITE? 


Postage  is  16  cts.  per  Ib. 
Express  often  cheaper. 


We  make  a  specialty  of 

WEDDING  AND 
VISITING  CARDS, 
STAMPING,  Etc. 

SEND  FOR  SAMPLES. 


If  so,  and  you  desire  fashionable  writing-paper  at  reasonable  prices,  ask  your 
stationer  for 

Boston  Linen, 

Boston  Bond,  or 

Bunker  Hill  Linen. 

These  papers  have  gained  a  reputation  in  every  State  and  Territory  in  the 
I  Union  on  account  of  their  excellent  quality  and  reasonable  price.  If  your  sta- 
I  tioner  does  not  keep  them,  send  us  three  two-cent  stamps  for  our  complete 
'  samples  of  paper,  representing  more  than 

250  Varieties  which  we  sell  by  the  Pound. 
SAMUEL  WARD  COMPANY  (INCORPORATED), 

Wholesale  and  Betail  Paper  Merchants,  Stationers,  and  Engravers, 
178  to  184  Devonshire  St.,  Boston. 

43- Dealers  should  correspond  with  us. 


IS  NOT  A  BLOOD  DISEASE,  and  CANNOT  be  cured 
by  the  so-caned  blooa  purifiers,  but  is  caused  most  com 
monly  by  an  imperfect  condition  of  the  secretions ;  the  food 
fails  to  digest  properly,  the  mucous  lining  of  the  stomach  ia 
weakenea,  and  chronic  dyspepsia  results,  bringing  the  bad 
_  _  appetite,  the  faint,  gnawing  feeling,  low  spirits,  and  all 

symptoms  dyspeptics  know  eo   well.         •  |L|^P|       |%lf  A  R  7"  n"P  B  A9I  R" 
THE  GREAT  ENGLISH  REMEDY  Jtly        •  •||V*tMFPl    INF 

has  in  thirty  years  use  in  England  and  five  in  •••!  •  EJ         B«B  I  •• 

America  never  known  a  case  of  failure.  It  con-  •  ••  •    •    • 

tains  no  opium  or  mercury.  We  guarantee  every  case,  and  will  rtturn  the  money  where  we  fail,  fiend 
us  your  address  and  we  will  refer  rou  to  somebody  in  your  neighborhood  who  knows  all  about  Ann-Dys- 
peptine,  or  if  immediate  relief  is  desired,  send  $1.00  for  one  pkge.  PRIVATE  FORMULA  CO..  Lebanon.  Ot 

BUY  for  themselves  and 
their  growing  daughters 


ENSIBL    WOMEN 


CORSE! 
WAISTS 


PATENT  BUTIOHS-won't  pall  off. 


BEAUTIFULLY  MADE.     BES 

Thousands  now  in 

descriptive  circular.    FERRIS 
MARSH  ALL"  FIELD  &  CO.,   CHICAGO,    ILL.,    WHOLESALE    WESTERN  AGENTS. 

34 


LIPPINCOTTS  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  ADVERTISER. 


MASON  &  HAMLIN  YACHT  ORGAN. 

For  Yachts,  Schools,  and  the  Home. 


$22. 


MASON  &.  HAMLIN    IMPROVED 

GRAND  AND  UPRIGHT 

PIANOS 

CHARACTERIZBD   BY 

BRIGHTEST,  PUREST  TONES,   GREATEST  DURABILITY, 
IMPROVED  METHOD  OF  STRINGING. 

Mason  &  Hamlin  do  not  hesitate  to  make  the  extraor 
dinary  claim  for  their  pianos,  that  they  are  superior  to 
all  others.  They  recognize  the  high  excellence  achieved 
by  other  leading  makers  in  the  art  of  piano  building,  but 
still  claim  superiority.  This  they  attribute  solely  to  the 
remarkable  improvement  introduced  by  them  in  the  year 
1882,  and  now  known  as  the  "  MASON  &  HAMLIN  PIANO 
STRINGER,"  by  the  use  of  which  is  secured  the  greatest 
possible  purity  and  refinement  of  tone,  together  with 
greatly  increased  capacity  for  standing  in  tune,  and 
other  important  advantages. 

A  circular,  containing  testimonials  from  three  hundred 
purchasers,  musicians,  and  tuners,  sent,  together  with 
descriptive  catalogue,  to  any  applicant. 


This  little  organ  has  as  much  power  as  any  single  reed 
organ ;  with  that  excellent  quality  which  characterizes 
the  Mason  &  Hamlin  Organs.  It  is  successfully  em 
ployed  for  private  and  public  uses ;  even,  in  some  instances, 
for  the  accompaniment  of  hundreds  of  voices.  A  circu 
lar  with  about  one  hundred  opinions  of  purchasers  of  this 
smallest  organ  will  be  forwarded  to  any  one  desiring  it. 


FASHIONABLE    MODELS. 

LISST  OE5A1T. — The  finest  and  most  powerfully  toned 
Reed  Organ  made.  The  first  one  made  expressly  for 
the  late  Abbe  Liszt.  The  organ  par  excellence  for  the 
drawing-room,  and  used  largely  in  churches  and  chap 
els.  With  one  and  two  manuals.  Price  from  $350. 

EOLUN  HASP  OBGAN.— This  style  combines  the  effect  of 
a  stringed  orchestra  with  the  organ.-  It  is  possible  to 
produce  the  undulating  effect  of  stringed  instruments 
with  one  hand  while  the  other  gives  the  organ  tone. 
Price  from  $105. 

FOFULA2  ST7L3S  at  $22,  $32.50.  $60,  $78,  $96,  and  up. 

Orgam  and  Pianos  told  for  Cash,  Eary  Payments,  and  Rented. 
Catalogue*  free. 

MASON  &  HAMLIN  ORGAN  AND  PIANO  CO., 

llofitim.    Xcir    fork,    Chicago. 


MORTEAfiELCDMEANY. 


Capital  Subscribed 
Capital  Paid  in  (Cash) 


.       32,000,000 

i,eoo,ooo 

6  PER  CENT.  DEBENTURES  and  GUARAN 
TEED  FARM  MORTGAGES.  Interest  payable 
semi-annually  at  any  of  our  offices.  Our  mortgages 
are  upon  improved  FARMS  ONLY.  W«  loan  »o 
money  on  the  unduly  stimulated  property 
of  the  towns  and  cities.  Also 

MUNICIPAL  BONDS. 

OFFICES. 

NEW  YORK,  208  B'way.  I  PHILADA.,  Cor.   Chest- 
BOSTON,  117  Devonshire         nut  and  4th  Streets. 
Street.  I  LONDON,  England. 

SEND  FOR  PAMPHLET. 


Leading  Nos.  14, 048, 128, 130,135, 333,161 
For  Sale  by  all  Stationers. 

THE    ESTERBROOK  STEEL   PEN    CO., 

Works,  Camden,N.J.  26  John  St.,  New  York 

HI  •  WA  Dialogues,  Tableaux,  Speakers,  for 
Ul  M  W  m  School.Club* Parlor.  Bestout.  Cata- 
I  bM  I  V  logue  free.  T.  S.  Dmnsoifr  Chicago,  111. 

SEDGWICK  STEEL  WIRE  FENCE. 


WITH  FULL  INSTRUCTIONS 
FILLS  A  WANT 

iONG  WISHED  FOR 


Morphine  Habit  Cured  in  1O 
to  2O  days-  IVo  pay  till  cured. 
Dr.  J.  Stephen*,  Lebanon,  Ohio. 


LADY  AGENTS  «S 

employment  at  $50  to  $100  per 
mouth  selling  Queen  City  Sup 
porters.  Sample  outfit  free. 
Address  Cincinnati  Suspender 
Co.,11  E.Ninth  St.,Cincinnati,O. 


The  best   Farm,  Garden,  Poultry  Yard,  Lawn, 
School  Lot,  Park  and  Cemetery  Fences  and  Gates. 
Perfect  Automatic   Gate.     Cheapest   and   Neatest 
Iron  Fences.     Iron  and  wire  Summer  Houses,  Lawn 
Furniture,  and  other  wire  work.   Best  Wire  Stretch 
er  and  Plier.     Ask  dealers  in  hardware,  or  address 
SEDCWICK  BROS.,  RICHMOND,  (NO. 
EDWARD  SUTTON,  Eastern  Agent, 
300  MAKKET  ST.  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Don't  be  a  Dunce.    Learn  German  by  r'd'g  Germ,  siories 
with  Eng.translat.  Cir's  free.   O.  P.  Co.,  Box  2020,  N.Y. 


35 


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Prolonged  spasms  of  sneezing;  breathing  turned  an  ordeal  of 
wheeze  and  gasp ;  distressing  and  blinding  discharges  from  the 
eyes — lavas  from  the  nose ;  and  occasional  deafness  and  fever ; 

THIS  is  HAY  FEVER 

A  breathing  ease  ;  A  painless  head;    ThiQ  |Q 
A  sparkling  eye ;  A  lusty  throat ; 

IT  MAY  BE  FOUND  IN 


lHHALATION. 


T7*  We  have  known  it  to  be  summer,  and  the  farrago  at  the  tree-tops 


1.  JL3.V     f  CVCr»  seemed  no  longer  jubilant;  the  murmur  of  the  breeze  was  ominous. 
*  For  with  the  swelling  buds  and  the  sparkling  dews  came  that  ex 

asperating  scourge — Hay  Fever.    From  that  time,  daily,  as  sure  as  sunrise,  it  returned ;  and  while 
it  lasted  endurance  and  patience  ceased  to  be  virtues.     Existence  was  but  an  irritating  ordeal. 

This  distressing  affliction  begins  its  ravages  as  early  as  June ;  then  adieu  to  peace  and  com 
fort.  With  others  it  delays  until  as  late  as  September,  and  leaves  an  irritated  condition  for 
winter  to  aggravate.  Like  nasal  catarrh,  it  is  a  disturbance  of  the  mucous  membrane.  How 
serious  and  annoying  it  is,  only  the  despairing  sufferer  knows.  Hay  Fever  is  disgustingly  per 
tinacious  and  baffles  the  doctors,  until  they  resort  to  desperate  and  barbarous  expedients, — the 
most  cruelly  useless  of  which  is  burning  out  the  interior  of  the  nose.  The  practitioners  yield 
to  the  disease ;  the  disease  seldom  yields  to  the  practitioner.  One  poison  may  antidote  another, 
but  it  is  scarcely  philosophical  to  assert  that  torture  may  be  used  to  obliterate  the  traces  of  agony. 
Thrashing  a  spavined  horse  does  not  limber  his  joints.  This  barbarous  destruction  of  the  nasal 
membrane  for  the  removal  of  Hay  Fever  should  look  for  a  parallel  precedent  of  decapitation  as 
a  preventive  of  headache.  Why  not  employ  nature's  remedy  ?  Easy,  natural,  and  effica 
cious.  And  what  more  exact  fulfilment  of  these  salutary  conditions  than  that  found  in  Drs. 
Starkey  &  Palen's  scientific  adjustment  of  the  elements  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  to  which  the 
vitality  of  positive  magnetism  is  added.  Hundreds  of  Drs.  Starkey  &  Palen's  patients  who 
have  used  Compound  Oxygen  report  a  removal  of  unhealthy  conditions  predisposing  to 
Catarrh  and  Asthma  and  Hay  Fever,  and  several  who  were  at  one  time  acute  sufferers  from 
Hay  Fever  report  that  they  believe  themselves  to  be  entirely  cured.  The  following  are  a  few 
of  the  many  testimonials  received : 

From  Iron  Mountain,  Missouri,  we  have  the  following  letter,  dated  April  6th,  1885,  from  Mr.  Ellis  P.  Cayce  : 
"  I  have  a  profound  reverence  for  Compound  Oxygen,  and  regard  it  as  a  great  medical  agent  for  many  of  our 
numerous  ills.  It  is  now  about  a  year  since  I  received  my  Home  Treatment  from  you.  I  was  at  that  time  suffer 
ing  intensely  from  neuralgia.  Three  or  four  weeks'  use  of  Compound  Oxygen  cured  me,  and  I  had  no  return  of 
the  disease.  I  have  suffered  severely  from  periodical  attacks  of  hay  fever  for  several  years.  Last  summer  1 
caught  it  at  the  usual  time,  but  a  -week's  use  of  Compound  Oxygen  brake  it  up.  I  have  used  the  Oxygen  on  vari 
ous  members  of  my  family  in  cases  of  colds,  always  with  excellent  effect.  I  expect  always  to  keep  a  supply  of 
Oxygen  in  my  family  in  the  future." 

"  WARRBNTON,  N.C.,  Oct.  at,  1886. 

"  Some  time  in  August  I  ordered  a  Treatment  of  Oxygen  for  my  aunt.  She  had  suffered  with  hay  fever  regu 
larly  every  year  for  fifteen  years.  When  I  ordered  the  Compound  Oxygen  her  annual  attack  of  hay  fever  had 
already  commenced,  and  as  you  did  not  promise  relief  after  the  commencement  of  the  attack,  we  were  not  very 
hopeful.  But  to  our  astonishment  and  joy  the  Oxygen  relieved  her  at  once,  and  only  on  one  evening  after  she 
commenced  the  Treatment,  and  then  only  for  a  few  hours,  did  she  have  any  considerable  trouble  with  her  hay  fever. 
Though  she  really  had  hay  fever,  it  was  so  slight,  after  she  commenced  using  the  Oxygen,  that  she  was  scarcely 
conscious  of  it.  I  do  not  know  what  Compound  Oxygen  will  do  for  hay  fever  in  general,  but  this  case  of  fifteen 
years'  standing  was  mastered  by  it.  You  are  at  liberty  to  use  this  in  any  way  you  may  see  proper  for  the  good 
of  hay-fever  victims.  I  believe  it  will  cure  hay  fever.  It  did  in  this  case,  at  any  rate.  REV.  T.  J.  TAYLOR." 

To  learn  more  of  how  the  Compound  Oxygen  acts  upon  chronic  cases,  send  for  the  treatise 
on  "  Compound  Oxygen — its  Mode  of  Action  and  Results."  It  will  be  mailed  to  you  free  by 
DRS.  STARKEY  &  PALEN,  1529  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  331  Montgomery  Street,  San 
Francisco,  Cal.,  58  Church  Street,  Toronto,  Canada. 


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